


Battle for Ba Sing Se

by KaizenKitty



Series: Race For Sozin's Comet [1]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Acceptance, Accidents, Action, Action/Adventure, Adventure, Aftermath of Violence, Agni Kai (Avatar), Airbending & Airbenders, Alliances, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Ambition, Angry Zuko (Avatar), Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Armor, Attempted Seduction, Avatar State, Awkward Flirting, Azula (Avatar) Is A Creep, Ba Sing Se, Bad Decisions, Bad Ending, Bad Flirting, Bad Jokes, Bad Parenting, Badass Azula (Avatar), Badass Katara (Avatar), Badass Mai (Avatar), Badass Sokka (Avatar), Badass Toph Beifong, Badass Zuko (Avatar), Battle, Battle Couple, Battle Scenes, Battlefield, Beating, Bending (Avatar), Betrayal, Bittersweet Ending, Blood, Blood Loss, Blood and Injury, Blood and Violence, Boats and Ships, Book 2: Earth (Avatar), Brother/Sister Incest, Brutal Murder, Brutality, Bullying, Canon Era, Canon Rewrite, Canon Universe, Canon-Typical Violence, Canonical Character Death, Character Death, Child Soldiers, Choices, Coming of Age, Conflict, Confrontations, Control, Corpses, Courage, Cruelty, Culture Shock, Cynical, Cynicism, Dead People, Death, Death Threats, Decisions, Despair, Destiny, Developing Friendships, Difficult Decisions, Dismemberment, Dominant Azula (Avatar), Drowning, Duelling, During Canon, Dysfunctional Family, Earth Kingdom (Avatar), Earthbending & Earthbenders, Edited, Electricity, Electrocution, Emotional, Emotional Baggage, Emotional Hurt, Emotional Manipulation, Emotions, Enemies, Enemies to Friends, Epic Battles, Episode: s02e20 The Crossroads of Destiny, Escape, Ethnocentrism, Eventual Katara/Zuko (Avatar), Eventual Romance, Evil Azula (Avatar), Explosions, F/M, Falling In Love, Family, Family Dynamics, Family Issues, Family Member Death, Family Secrets, Fate & Destiny, Feelings, Fictional Religion & Theology, Fights, Fire, Fire Magic, Fire Nation (Avatar), Fire Nation Lore (Avatar), Fire Nation Royal Family, Fire Powers, Firebending & Firebenders, First Love, Fist Fights, Fix-It, Fratricide, Free Will, Freedom Fighters, Friendship, Gen, Gritty, Growing Up, Guilt, Hakoda (Avatar) is a Good Parent, Hatred, Healers, Heroes & Heroines, Honor, Hope, Hope vs. Despair, Hot-Headed Zuko (Avatar), Hurt, Hurt Zuko (Avatar), Hurt/Comfort, I Will Go Down With This Ship, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, Ice Powers, Imperialism, Implied/Referenced Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Implied/Referenced Incest, Impulse Control, Impulsive Zuko (Avatar), In Character, Injury, Internal Conflict, Iroh (Avatar) loves Tea, Jealousy, Justice, Killing, Knives, Lightningbending & Lightningbenders (Avatar), Look At Your Life Look At Your Choices, Loss, Loss of Control, Loss of Limbs, Love, Loyalty, M/M, Manipulative Azula (Avatar), Martial Arts, Mentioned Ozai (Avatar), Metalbending & Metalbenders, Minor Bato/Hakoda (Avatar), Minor Character Death, Minor Original Character(s), Mixed Martial Arts, Mortality, Nationalism, Navy, Near Death, Near Death Experiences, Not Beta Read, Not Canon Compliant, Oblivious, Oblivious Zuko (Avatar), One-Sided Mai/Zuko (Avatar), One-sided Aang/Katara (Avatar), One-sided Azula/Zuko (Avatar), Original Character Death(s), POV Multiple, Pain, Parallels, Parental Hakoda (Avatar), Past Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Past Sokka/Yue (Avatar), Patriotism, Permanent Injury, Plot, Plot Twists, Political Alliances, Poor Life Choices, Possible Character Death, Pre-Katara/Zuko (Avatar), Protective Aang (Avatar), Protective Iroh (Avatar), Protective Sokka (Avatar), Protective Zuko (Avatar), Racism, Rebirth, Refugees, Regret, Reincarnation, Religion, Rescue, Rescue Missions, Resentment, Revenge, Rewrite, Rewrite of old fanfic, Romance, Royalty, Sacrifice, Sad Ending, Sailing, Sane Azula (Avatar), Sarcasm, Sarcastic Azula (Avatar), Screw Destiny, Season Finale, Secret Crush, Seduction, Seduction to the Dark Side, Self Control, Self-Acceptance, Self-Destruction, Self-Discovery, Self-Doubt, Self-Esteem Issues, Self-Hatred, Self-Reflection, Self-Sacrifice, Self-Worth Issues, Shame, Sibling Incest, Sibling Rivalry, Slow Burn, Slow Burn Katara/Zuko (Avatar), Smart Sokka (Avatar), Snarky Azula (Avatar), Social Justice, Soldiers, Sorry Not Sorry, Southern Water Tribe, Spears, Spies & Secret Agents, Spirits, Spiritual, Spring, Stabbing, Strategist Sokka (Avatar), Strength, Strong Zuko (Avatar), Success, Suicide Attempt, Survival, Survivor Guilt, Swordfighting, Swords, Swords & Sorcery, Tactician Sokka (Avatar), Teamwork, Teen Romance, The Dai Li (Avatar), The Gaang Learns How Zuko Got The Scar (Avatar), This Is Not Going To Go The Way You Think, Threats, Threats of Violence, Tragedy, Training, Unrequited Crush, Violence, War, Water Tribe(s) (Avatar), Waterbending & Waterbenders, Weapons, What Have I Done, Why Did I Write This?, Writing Exercise, Zuko (Avatar) is Bad at Feelings, Zuko (Avatar)-centric, Zuko Joins The Gaang Early (Avatar), Zuko is an Awkward Turtleduck, Zuko's Scar (Avatar), Zutara, achievement, failure - Freeform, fetal alcohol syndrome
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-02
Updated: 2021-01-14
Packaged: 2021-03-09 04:28:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 8
Words: 40,876
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27338698
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KaizenKitty/pseuds/KaizenKitty
Summary: Choosing to stay with the Guru instead, Aang lets go of Katara to open his Thought Chakra. In doing so, he misses the moment Azula captures Katara and takes over the Earth Kingdom capital. In a desperate attempt to save the city, Zuko and Katara join forces to protect the friends they've made in Ba Sing Se, and fight off Azula and the Dai Li. Meanwhile, Sokka and Toph are facing problems of their own at the city's south-eastern border: a fleet of Fire Navy ships has arrived at Chameleon Bay. Let the battle begin.
Relationships: Aang & Katara & Sokka & Toph, Aang & Katara (Avatar), Aang & Sokka (Avatar), Aang & Toph Beifong, Azula & Dai Li, Azula & Mai & Ty Lee, Azula & Mai (Avatar), Azula & Ty Lee (Avatar), Azula & Zuko (Avatar), Azula/Zuko (Avatar), Bato & Hakoda (Avatar), Bato & Sokka (Avatar), Bato & Toph Beifong, Bato/Hakoda (Avatar), Dai Li & Order of the White Lotus, Hakoda & Sokka (Avatar), Iroh & Order of the White Lotus (Avatar), Iroh & Zuko (Avatar), Jin/Zuko (Avatar), Katara & Zuko (Avatar), Katara/Zuko (Avatar), Mai & Ty Lee (Avatar), Mai & Zuko (Avatar), Mai/Zuko (Avatar), Sokka/Suki (Avatar), Toph Beifong & Sokka
Series: Race For Sozin's Comet [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1996267
Comments: 27
Kudos: 112





	1. The Earth Council Scroll

"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing." ~ Edmund Burke

* * *

Katara felt elated. For the first time in weeks, things were finally shaping up for the better. Now the Earth King was listening to them, and Aang got to take part in war council meetings, as the Avatar rightfully should. The Earth Kingdom had started taking them seriously, started treating Aang as more than just a wayward child, treating him as the Avatar. Of course at the moment, Aang was off to meet with Guru Pathik, so Katara had been filling in for him at the Earth Council meeting.

She was the only one of their group in Ba Sing Se for the time being. Toph had gone to visit her parents, Sokka was meeting with Dad at Chameleon Bay, and Aang had taken Appa with him to see this mysterious Guru up in the mountains. The Guru had promised he could be of some help mastering the Avatar State, which they badly needed if they were to win the war. The Avatar State could harness the power of Nature itself and aid them greatly in the fight. But if used wrongly, it could also cause unimaginable destruction the likes of which the world had never seen before. So it was important that Aang learned how to use it, to master it, and control the flow of raw spiritual energy.

Sometimes Katara felt it was wrong, that so much responsibility was placed on a boy. The world expected so much of Aang. It wasn't right. So if she could do anything to support him, she would. With determination she marched up the stairs leading to the Earth King's chambers and knocked on the door.

"King Kuei," she said to the closed door. "We need your seal on this scroll."

The doors creaked open. A moment later Katara was surprised to find two Kyoshi Warriors inside the throne room. One of them stood beside King Kuei's throne, the other had opened the door. They had heavy make-up on, and Katara did not recognize them. Was Suki here in Ba Sing Se? That was awesome! Suki and her girls could definitely help with the invasion on the Day of the Black Sun. Her being here was so convenient; now they could all discuss the invasion plans together.

"Come on in," said Kuei. He sounded a little nervous, but then again, he always did.

Without hesitation, Katara walked deeper inside the room. The Kyoshi warrior shut the door behind her, which was good, because they needed all the privacy they could get. War council scrolls were serious business only the Earth King should see. Just imagine what would happen if a Fire Nation spy were to get their paws on this document. The less people knew about it, the better. So it was very foresighted of that Kyoshi warrior girl to shut the door, keep this moment private.

Katara smiled and handed Kuei the scroll. The King unfolded it, adjusted his glasses, and began perusing the paper. The other Kyoshi Warrior read over his shoulder. Minutes later, the Earth King turned pale. He turned a sickly green and started whimpering, eyes darting around in panic.

Katara raised an eyebrow at the Earth King. Surely his anxiety wasn't _so bad,_ was it?

She caught sight of the manic grin on the Kyoshi Warrior's face. Weird. Then, a sense of movement right behind her made Katara spin around on her heel.

That other Kyoshi Warrior, the one who had been by the door, was coming right at her with fists at the ready.

Katara didn't think. She uncorked her waterskin with a flick of her fingers and smacked the girl right in the stomach with a whip of water.

The girl got back up, panting, badly out of breath, but still making an effort to invade Katara's personal space.

Katara grit her teeth. "Back _off."_ She slashed the girl with water again, forcing her jumpy feet to the ground.

This time, the water had touched part of the girl's face, washing off a great deal of her make-up. Katara frowned. The round face seemed familiar, but... she couldn't quite recall just _where_ she had seen this crazy Kyoshi Warrior before. Maybe the girl was related to the foaming mouth guy, could be they had rabies. That wasn't a stretch of the imagination. Just in case, Katara froze the girl's feet to the floor.

She turned back to the Earth King and the senior Kyoshi girl, whose seniority was marked by a special headband, much like the one Suki wore. Now the King was even more out of sorts. With a sigh, Katara walked up to his throne and held out her hand for the scroll.

"We can sort this out later if now is not a good time," she said to the King, hoping to calm him down. To the Kyoshi Warrior, she said: "And something's really wrong with your subordinate. Girl needs a head check. I don't mind a friendly spar, but this is not the time and place for it."

The Warrior laughed. Tilted her head back and cackled a nasty sneer.

Katara frowned in bewilderment, tilting her head to the side. Was it contagious? Were all people on Kyoshi Island now infected with the crazy?

In a sweet but deadly voice, the Kyoshi Warrior told her: "I'll be sure to keep that in mind, when I pit you in a cage fight against my brother. That's sure to be entertaining. Anyways, I must thank you for providing the Fire Nation with important intel on the Earth Kingdom's next move. This way I won't have to torture King Kuei. You're proving to be quite useful to the Fire Nation already. I like it."

Katara froze. _Azula!_

Moments later she felt someone punch the joints in her arms, then her legs turned to jelly and gave way as she felt herself drop to the floor. Two soft arms encircled her, softening her fall and guiding her body gently down. Katara turned her head to see the face of that other Kyoshi Warrior, with the smudged make-up. It was none other than the acrobat Ty Lee.

* * *

Mai hated sitting in that stuffy throne room. Her whole life had been spent in stuffy rooms, among boring adults who only liked to talk and talk for days. She needed some _action_ in her life. That was why she had initially joined Azula on her quest to capture the Avatar and apprehend the Banished Prince who had betrayed their Nation. It was an escape from the tedium that was life in the Fire Colonies. Mai needed an escape. For the sake of her own sanity.

For similar reasons she was now strolling down Upper Ring Ba Sing Se. It was better than sitting cooped up inside that stuffy throne room and watching Azula sadistically squeeze the truth out of that buffoon of a King. The guy did not deserve to be King, that much was obvious.

A curious sign grabbed Mai's attention: 'Jasmine Dragon Tea House'. The inscription underneath it read: 'we serve the best tea in the world'.

Mai scoffed. Yeah, right. She rolled her eyes, and took another step away from the newly painted building, when a premonition held her back. She turned toward the teahouse, passing a group of bubbly Upper Ring girls, merrily chatting away about "that hot waiter in the gilded brown robes", _ugh,_ as she walked in through the golden gate.

A menu was shoved into her hands. Mai perused it. Nothing really caught her eye as she sauntered through the cafe, menu in hand, finally selecting a quiet spot in the corner, by a window looking out over the lower rings of Ba Sing Se. Mai sat with her back to the rest of the teahouse, and stared out the window. Didn't take long for a waiter to come take her order.

Mai didn't even look at the guy. She hated the look of poverty. The less she had to deal with these people, the better. She was just here for the tea, not to chit-chat with plebs that couldn't even afford the face paint she was wearing.

"Do you have a specific tea in mind?" the guy said in this raspy voice that sounded both upbeat and servile.

Mai shook her head.

"Alright, then let me recommend you a cup of chilled tapioca tea. It really helps with the warm weather we're having today."

She puckered her lips. She could tell this guy was really trying, and it's not like she was trying to get him fired... so she set the menu down and looked at the guy, really _really_ looked at the guy.

What she saw shocked her. Mai just stared for a good minute.

The waiter was a good sport and let her stare, doing nothing but smile politely back at her. It was a fake smile, but still. He was obviously doing his best to please her.

What shocked Mai the most, however, was this guy... was like the twin brother that Prince Zuko of the Fire Nation never knew he had. A perfect look-alike, living within the walls of Ba Sing Se. That such a thing should even exist, surprised Mai even more. Even the scar on his eye matched the one Zuko now had.

For a second or so, Mai didn't know what to do. So she went ahead and ordered the tapioca ice tea. The waiter smiled, bowed, and disappeared behind a door. Mai turned around fully, and watched the cafe. Everyone else seemed to be acting normally.

As she waited for her tea, ideas started brewing in her head. If this waiter looked so much like the real Zuko that even _she_ could be fooled, then maybe... _maybe_ the three of them could use this to their advantage. Mai bit her lip. This waiter guy could be passed off as the Banished Prince, and it wouldn't matter if he could firebend or not. The Fire Nation was out for blood. They just wanted someone to suffer, to rot in prison till the end of their days. It didn't matter if it actually was Zuko or not. No one was going to check. An inability to bend would only be seen as pathetic ineptitude, which was no different from how the Nation already saw their Banished Prince. They wouldn't question it. They would only laugh at him.

This was it, this was one part of the prize Azula had been chasing. Resolute, Mai stood and placed two gold pieces on her table. She had to tell Azula. No time to waste. Zuko was here, and the Dai Li would detain him before the day was out. Even if it wasn't really Zuko. Who cares?

* * *

Far off in the mountains, Aang stared quizzically at Guru Pathik.

"Why must I let go of my feelings for Katara?" the boy asked in a tiny voice, disheartened. "Three chakras ago, love was a good thing!"

The old Guru sighed. "Aang, if your love for her is that intense, you won't be able to focus when you are in the Avatar State. To open all seven chakras and gain full control over the Avatar State, you must let go of your earthly attachments and open the Thought Chakra. I understand that Katara needs you, and... you need Katara. But the universe and its people, all life on this planet, the creatures of the forest, the Spirits, ...they need you too."

The man placed a hand on Aang's shoulder. They shared a pained look.

"You are the Avatar, that means you have a duty to the world, Aang."

The boy forced out a long breath, squeezing his eyes shut. "I am aware."

He sat back in the pose, crossing his legs the way Monk Gyatso had taught him to, and cleared his mind of everything.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The concept of this story came to me 8 years ago, back when I started writing and posting 'Battle For BaSingSe' on fanfictionnet. You can still find it there, in its original form --> https://www.fanfiction.net/s/8154228/1/Battle-for-BaSingSe
> 
> Back then my writing skills were not that good. So now I'm trying to see if I am able to tell this story, the way it should be told. There have been some adjustments, a lot of things have been changed, so hopefully I can take you all on a new experience, a journey into the Avatar world. ;-P Don't worry it's still ZuTara, but I might have added some (allusions to) background pairings. Still the focus of this story is and always will be on Katara and Zuko.
> 
> Read, review, enjoy. UwU


	2. Words from the Sea

"Wise men speak because they have something to say; fools because they have to say something." ~ Plato

* * *

Zuko was having a crappy day. First he had to wake at the crack of dawn, and help the other teahouse employees set up all tables and wipe the wooden floor with a rag till it shone like a piece of gold. Then he had to dress in these ridiculous looking embroidered brown robes... Seriously the skirt was so long he would be tripping over it all day. _Then_ he had to wake Uncle, who was mumbling some garbage about Pai Sho tiles, of all things, in his sleep.

"You have some drool on your beard," Zuko pointed.

Blinking sleepily, Uncle Iroh wiped at his chin with his sleeve. "Did I get it?"

 _Ugh._ Zuko rolled his eyes, pointing at the washroom. " _No,"_ he groaned, casting his eyes at the low wooden ceiling and praying his day would get better.

It sort of did. But not quite. At least the weather was nice, warm, starting to feel real summer-like out here. That reminded him of his home. He hadn't been there in years. Maybe one day he would be back, in disguise, pretending to be someone else. That was his life now. He was no longer Prince Zuko of the Fire Nation, no. Now he was Lee of the Earth Kingdom, just a regular waiter at another Upper Ring teahouse in Ba Sing Se, nothing special. He didn't even live in the Upper Ring, he just worked there. At least the pay was better than any work in the Lower or Middle Ring could ever offer.

The clientele was _terrible._ Ugh. Zuko _hated_ dealing with them. Putting on a fake smile, acting like they put the sun in the sky. It was nauseating. These people were nothing like the clients they had in the Lower Ring: here to have a good time, always up for a chat. No, the clients from Ba Sing Se's Upper Ring all thought they were better than you, and wanted you to know it, too. Really rubbed it in his face, how their robes were better than his, the precious stones hanging from their snotty necks shone brighter, their hair stylist was better than his, and so on and so forth. It was getting really hard to keep a friendly smile on his face when he was faced with this much hostility from the get-go. And he _hadn't even attacked them yet!_

One thing made up for all this crap Zuko had to put up with. The girls here were cuter. And he knew it wasn't fair to Jin, that by all means, she would have looked real good if she got to wear a dress these Upper Ring girls had, if a classy stylist did her hair, adorned it with freshly picked flowers. But Zuko couldn't help himself. It was kinda nice to see this much beauty day in, day out. And to be fair, they weren't exactly dating, him and Jin. They had gone out once, just this once. And after that, Zuko had fallen grieviously ill, could not have any visitors. When he recovered, he met Jin once or twice, they spoke shortly, and agreed to go out sometime in the near future, but hadn't picked a date yet.

So it's not like she was his girlfriend, he wasn't bound to her. This wasn't cheating. It was just... establishing client relationships, making sure these girls would come again, keep the Jasmine Dragon in business. Yeah, that was it. He was just being friendly, helping Uncle run a business. He wasn't flirting. Not really, no. He was just doing his job. He got paid to smile and hand out cups of tea all day long.

Even though some of these girls looked _real_ good. They probably had boyfriends, or fiances, or husbands.

This day there had been a rather quiet girl, who sat by herself in a corner of the room. She had looked so _sad_ , like there was a lot on her mind. Zuko had tried cheering her up with a cup of cool tapioca tea, but once he returned with her order, she had already left.

At least she paid for her drink. _And_ tipped him quite handsomely. That was always nice. Zuko pocketed the money, went out back and pulled the apron over his head. He really deserved a break. With a sly smile he observed Uncle and the other servers in the kitchen, completely absorbed in their teamaking. At least _someone_ liked it here. He was glad Uncle had found a place where he felt at peace. How ironic that place had to be beyond enemy lines.

Oh well. Zuko sauntered out the back door, reclined against the wall of their little establishment, and took a long drink of the chilled tapioca tea. Perhaps he could make this work. Maybe he could carry on life as Lee, nephew of Mushi, Earth Kingdom refugee, now residing within the Lower Ring of Ba Sing Se... Jin's would-be boyfriend. It wasn't _that bad_ of a prospect. He just had to pretend he couldn't bend for the rest of his life, no biggie.

That was when he felt a pair of stone handcuffs encase his wrists, forcing the cup of bubble tea out of his hands. It spilled all over the ground as it rolled down the street, emptying its contents.

Zuko had half a mind to yell " _My tea!"_ at such a waste of a good product, when two Dai Li agents showed up on either side of him. Zuko frowned. Had he been found out? Were they going to arrest Uncle next? Had Jet ratted them out to the Dai Li? Did the Dai Li suspect Zuko and his uncle of spying for the Fire Nation? What was going on?

He lifted his bound hands in a helpless gesture, and turned a wide-eyed stare at the Dai Li agents.

"Why?"

"No questions!" the man to his right gruffly said.

"But," Zuko started. "...I did nothing wrong."

As soon as those words were out of his mouth, a stone hand clamped over his lips, forcing his mouth shut. These guys weren't joking around. Zuko sure hoped they didn't get his uncle. He went quietly with the Dai Li agents, was led down a dark hallway underground. He kept glancing left and right, but there was no path to escape. Everything around him was pitch dark.

Then there was a glowy blue-green light at the end of the tunnel. Crystals, many of them, growing around a dead end. The agents bended the earth around the glowing crystals, opening up another cave, this one a lot brighter than the first. At least Zuko could see his own hands in here. They were still bound by solid rock. The stone gag remained, covering his mouth. He couldn't say a thing in protest, could only breathe calmly through his nose. Firebending was as good as useless here, so deep underground. He didn't even know where he was.

The Dai Li agents left without a word, closing the wall of stone behind them, leaving Zuko here, trapped in a stone cave, bound and gagged. Great. Just his luck. Though he supposed things could have been worse. At least his arms weren't bound behind his back.

With that thought in mind he explored the cave a little, looking for someplace to sit this out and rest. They were sure to come back and question him. Zuko had to be ready for the tough questions. Had to be mentally prepared. He needed to stay calm and come up with a good cover story, one these goons would believe.

When he rounded a corner around a glittering stalagmite, he saw he was not alone in the cave. There was a girl about his own age dressed in blue robes. She was pacing about the cave, ranting. It sounded like she was berating herself for something she had done. She seemed really angry and upset. None of her arms or legs were bound. The girl could walk around freely. She appeared pretty harmless. So Zuko approached her, holding up his bound hands with open palms in a universal gesture of peace.

He tried to say "Hey, they captured you too?" through the stone gag, but it came out muffled. His guttural voice deformed into something meaningless. Zuko sighed in defeat, shoulders sagging as he let out a heavy breath through his nose. They had even taken away his ability to speak.

The girl turned toward him, toward the noise, finally acknowledging his presence.

They both blinked. He knew this girl, didn't he? She was the one that traveled with the Avatar, the waterbender. Wait a minute... weren't the Avatar and the Earth King on good terms? Why had the Dai Li thrown this girl into the dungeon? First the Avatar's Bison was taken by the Dai Li, now his friend... Zuko frowned in confusion. None of it made any sense.

"Oh! Awesome," the girl said, glaring at him. "Just as I thought things couldn't get _any_ worse, _you_ show up! Why do you _always_ chase after us? Can't you _get a life?"_

Zuko sighed. Wordlessly, he pointed at the lower half of his face. He couldn't exactly respond with the stone still firmly clamped over his lips. But the girl just narrowed her eyes, glaring daggers at him.

"That was a rhetorical question," she seethed. "I'm not particularly interested in anything you have to say, _'Prince Zuko.'"_

Zuko shook his head. He _wasn't_ a Prince, he would never be.

"I _don't_ CARE! Shut up."

Zuko raised an eyebrow. He hadn't said anything. Again he pointed at his very much gagged mouth.

"Stop trying to talk nonverbally. I couldn't give a rat's ass if you're hungry."

Oh. _Oh,_ she had misunderstood him. Zuko once again shook his head.

At this, the waterbender uncorked her waterskin, and slapped his nose with a whip of water. Zuko cringed.

"Oww."

"Will you _stop talking?_ Go sit on _that side_ of the cave," she pointed to the corner from which he'd come. "I don't wanna see your face."

Her words stung more than the burning spot on his nose that he could not rub because his hands were tied. Zuko drooped his head, examined the fancy shoes he had put on this morning. And for what? To get captured and interrogated by the Earth Kingdom's Secret Police? Why did nothing in his life ever go his way?

They both sat with their backs to each other. Every now and then, Zuko glanced over his shoulder at the waterbender. She did not spare him a single glance, acting like he wasn't there. For whatever reason, their captors had not taken her waterskin away from her. She had been allowed to keep a small pouch of water to bend with. Zuko wondered if this was an important clue that would help him escape his current predicament.

* * *

Toph was furious. Not only had that letter from her parents turned out to be the fakest of fakes that ever faked, these two dipshits had the _audacity_ to underestimate her bending! _After_ she had become champion of the Earth Rumble, many times over, beating _all their pathetic bums_ fair and square. Assholes. Never trust a Bending Tournament Host, they were all seedy and corrupt. After three days inside the metal cage she'd broken out of, Toph was on her way back to Ba Sing Se, bending the earth around her feet to propel herself forward, traveling along the coast. Going ninety-nine miles an hour.

If _this_ was how her folks intended to bring her back, they had another thing coming. Throughout all this, she didn't even feel hungry or fatigued. It felt like her whole body was rushing with energy, strong, powerful, alive. Breathing with the sea in her lungs, a strong wind in her back, she was headed for Ba Sing Se, her new home.

There was a smell of burning coal in the air. Toph held still. The earth around her feet stopped quaving. She was miles away from the nearest town, with no house nor campsite near here. The only ones who could be burning coal were... ships in the waters of the Eastern Sea, deep down below the cliffs Toph stood on. Warships. Fire Navy ships.

Then she heard voices. Sounds of people talking, coming from the water. She inclined her head toward the sound, and listened. Now she could distinguish separate words. Words from the sea. Their ships must be sailing pretty close to shore if she could hear them that well. As a precaution, she threw up a small rock to hide behind, so they wouldn't see her.

"This is not the first time our great Nation came close to taking the Earth Kingdom capital," a gruff voice said. "Six years ago, General Iroh, now turned traitor to our Nation, laid siege to Ba Sing Se for six hundred days."

Toph held her breath. This was bad. The Fire Navy was in the Eastern Sea. Why now? Were they launching an attack? Had they not been discouraged by Sokka, Aang, Katara and _her_ demolishing their stupid drill that barely made it through the Outer Wall?

"He did not succeed in taking the city," the Fire Navy man resumed his history lesson. "A huge waste of resources for our Nation. We cannot afford a repeat of that."

Toph scowled. This guy spoke so clinically of the pain and suffering of _her people_. The Fire Navy men were monsters.

"I urge you to break through their defenses. Fight with everything you've got. Earth might be the stronger element, but where we lose in bending, we win with tactics. Use your brain. Even an earthbender is not immune to fire. Hit their weak spots: the legs, the feet, the arms. They will not be able to bend for awhile after that. Take them by surprise."

This Fire Navy Commander spoke with cold-hearted efficiency. Nothing in his tone even suggested that he saw people of the Earth Kingdom as human. Toph felt sick to her stomach listening to his crap.

"There is a small Water Tribe stationed at Chameleon Bay. Eliminate them."

Moo-sow shit! Toph's heart leapt in her throat. They were in deep trouble. She _had to_ warn Sokka! Scrambling to her feet, Toph switched course to Chameleon Bay, running as fast as her legs would carry her. She grit her teeth, putting more oompf into her bending. She _had to_ reach Chameleon Bay _before_ the Fire Navy did. Failure was not an option.

* * *

Hours had passed, perhaps even an entire day, Katara did not know. There was nothing here that could indicate the passing of time, and she had lost count hours ago. Her stomach rumbled, and it was getting exceedingly tough to control. She sighed, finally caving to the feeling and slumping against the glowy green crystal wall. She turned around and pursed her lips, studying her fellow cellmate. Zuko appeared stoic through all this: seated in seiza with his back straight, a calm neutral expression on his face, albeit a calculating look in his eyes.

"Fine," Katara said with a roll of her eyes. "I suppose there's no harm in you talking."

She noticed Zuko's eyes widen a little when she uncorked her waterskin. But other than that, he did not react. He remained passively seated, even as she approached him with her right hand cloaked in water.

With a swift motion Katara lashed her water across the stone covering Zuko's mouth. He groaned out in pain, but Katara narrowed her eyes dismissively.

"Relax, ya big baby. A bit of _water_ won't melt you. You're not made of sugar."

She watched him flex his jaw for a minute or two after the gag dropped off, solid stone fractured in a puddle of pebbles. Katara pulled some of the water back, returning it to her flask. This was something she couldn't afford to waste.

More time passed, and he made no attempt to speak.

Katara placed her hands on her hips, stepping right in front of him. "Cat got your tongue?"

A disturbing thought flashed through her mind. What if Azula had actually cut off Zuko's tongue?

No, no! Stop Katara, don't think of that. Think of flowers, music, dance, happy things! Think happy things.

The Fire Prince shook his head. He seemed conflicted about something... whether to talk or not, apparently.

"I'm sorry," he finally said to a crystal stalactite to the left of Katara.

Katara huffed out a snort. "I'm sure that stalactite accepts your apology, whatever you might have done to it," she said, folding her arms and smirking down at him.

Zuko's eyes shifted to her. "I meant you. I want to apologize to you."

She blinked, smile truly gone now. "Is this some type of a trick, or...?" she demanded, raising both eyebrows. If Zuko thought he could dupe her with some fake apology, he was dead wrong. She was no longer that naive young girl from the Southern Water Tribe. She had seen too much of the world, lived through too much, to just blindly trust anyone like that, let alone _Zuko._

He sighed, casting his eyes at the ground between them. "I know my apologies suck."

Katara waved her hands around. "Then _work on them."_

"Okay, what I did was terrible. And I... I'm not after the Avatar anymore. I've given up."

Her eyes turned to saucers.

"Or, err," Zuko blabbered on. "You could say that I uhhh.... got _a life?"_

Her jaw dropped. " _What?!"_

Zuko looked up at her with earnest eyes and an open, guileless face. "I live in BaSingSe now, as Lee. I serve tea..."

This made Katara mad. "But you're _from the Fire Nation!"_ she gestured wildly with her hands.

"Does it matter?" he looked genuinely confused and scared, as he turned his pleading eyes up to her.

Katara growled. " _Of course it does!_ Your nation _destroyed_ these people. And you're... You're serving them _tea?!"_

He sighed, shoulders sinking, gaze dropping back to the floor. "I suppose you're right."

Something about seeing Zuko like this, so... _broken_ ...felt not right, somehow. Although she supposed this _was_ a positive change from him hunting down her friends, destroying everything in sight.

"Hmm," Katara tapped her chin, "what got you thrown in here?"

"I don't know. The Dai Li just came to arrest me. Tried asking, but that's why I had the gag."

Katara considered this for a moment. She tilted her head, eyes critically surveying Zuko for any sign of him lying.

"So you haven't," she started, then stopped, thought it over once more, then came out and said: "you haven't met with Azula?"

Zuko's head jerked up. "Azula is _here?"_

His surprise was too spontaneous to be fake.

"Yes," said Katara. "She's here, pretending to be a Kyoshi Warrior, conspiring with the Dai Li."

Zuko's look of confusion was almost comical. Katara would have laughed, if the situation were any different. Seriously, you should see Zuko's face.

"The Earth King knows. He's likely imprisoned just like you and me, or being held hostage. Last I saw her she was trying to torture King Kuei into revealing war secrets."

Zuko's expression turned dark. "That means we only have limited time before the Fire Nation arrives, and takes over Ba Sing Se."

With narrowed eyes Katara said sharply: "are _you_ behind this? Did your sister get in the city with _your help?"_

He looked stricken. " _NO!_ No of course not. I would never... well I... I have nothing to do with this. I didn't even know she was here."

He tried gesturing with his arms, but his hands were still tied at the wrists. So his movements looked kind of stupid. Katara sighed, taking a good look at his handcuffs, noting where she'd have to strike them with water to shatter the stone. That was always a delicate task. One wrong move and she could shatter Zuko's bones instead... Not that she _didn't want to_ (shatter his bones), but she had to admit that Zuko had changed. Even if he hadn't said it in so many words. He looked _different,_ acted _different,_ spoke _different._ It was hard to believe this Zuko and the one who had brutally charged into her home village were the same.

"Promise you won't pull anything funny if I remove your handcuffs."

He blinked. "...you can do that?"

Katara shrugged, arms crossed over her chest. " _Promise,"_ she intoned.

"I ...uh, I promise."

He held up his hands toward her. Katara frowned, puzzled by this willingness to trust her, coming from the guy who had declared himself her enemy just months prior. With a flick of her wrist and some subtle hand movements, she succeeded in breaking the rock to little bits, freeing Zuko's hands.

He stared up at her. "Thank you."

Dismissively, Katara waved her hand. "It was nothing. So, what's the plan? You thought of a way to get out of here?"

Zuko pursed his lip. "I was mentally preparing myself for an interrogation by the Dai Li."

"You've got to be kidding me."

"No, nuh-uh. That was my plan. Convince them I've done nothing wrong, and they've got me confused with someone else. But if Azula's involved..."

"Then that isn't going to work."

"Yeah."

"Yeah."


	3. Covered by Oyama Magnolia

"Can a fallen blossom return to its branch?" ~ Shinto scripture.

* * *

Zuko set a thoughtful finger to his chin. He studied the girl, sized up her water pouch.

"Maybe you can waterbend us out of here?"

She sneered, spreading her arms. "Maybe you can _firebend_ us out of here."

He pursed his lip, nodding at her flask. "We can break the walls if we work together. No stone can withstand rapid heating and cooling. You could freeze the rock, then I could heat it up. Might take awhile, but we can dismantle one wall little by little. One stone at a time."

The girl looked pensive for a moment. "That might actually work. But we have no idea how deep underground we are, or what direction to dig."

"They brought me in from that side," Zuko pointed. "It's five steps left, six steps right, twenty-three steps left, eighty-seven steps right and up a thirty percent incline, four steps right and up a fifteen percent incline, three steps left and up a forty percent incline to the street."

She gaped at him like he was out of his mind.

"What?" Zuko asked.

"You _counted?!"_

He shrugged. "Made sense to keep count. It was very dark in there, so I couldn't see a thing. Only felt where my feet went. I made rough estimates of the incline percentages. Those could be wrong. I did get the general direction. We _could_ try."

"Alright, which spot should I freeze first?"

She was all business now, focused on the task at hand.

"Right," Zuko traced his fingers over the craggy stone wall, searching. "Here. This looks like the most vulnerable spot."

He stepped aside, and let the waterbender work her magic. Once that bit of wall had frozen over, Zuko placed his fingers directly on the ice. He winced, hissing in pain as his fingertips stuck to stone. This was going to hurt. He put everything into heating his hands. Already, the ice began to thaw. The girl bended the water away, restoring it to her flask.

Zuko smirked. The Dai Li thought they could lock him up in a stone cage, huh? Dumbasses. If Azula had let the waterbender keep some water because she hoped this girl would use it against him, then his sister had miscalculated. Which wasn't that surprising, really. A lot had happened since they last met. Zuko had grown up. He had changed. Azula did not know him, not anymore. Not _the new him_. The stone grew terribly hot under his fingers. Zuko let go, huffed, leapt back, then ran at the wall and aimed a side thrust kick directly at the glowing red stone.

His grin widened when the stone cracked. The thing broke to pieces and shattered to the ground, creating a small dent in the wall. This wasn't much, but it was a start. He shared a smile with the waterbender girl, before they went back to work.

"I never told you my name, did I?" she said, about an hour into this.

Both of them were mired in sweat and dust. Zuko had taken off his outer robe, the fancy brown one, folded it up and fixed it to his belt. He burned a little fire in the palm of his hand, like a torch to light their way through the dark. He raised an eyebrow at her, placing his blistered fingertips to the frozen stone.

"I know your name," he said, making the temperature rise within the rock.

"You _do?"_

"Yeah. Overheard your brother call you Katara."

"Oh," she said, blinking. "It's just that, well... you never called me by my name, so I... I didn't know, if you knew it."

Zuko shrugged. "Didn't have reason to."

She glared at him.

"Don't get me wrong," Zuko quickly interjected, "I _would have_ addressed you properly. It just never came up, uhh... the opportunity never presented itself. We didn't exactly _talk_ much, in the past."

"Yeah," Katara said, looking away from him as Zuko readied another side thrust kick.

After the dust settled, she moved in to freeze the next bit.

"What will you do once we get out of here?" she said, moving her hand in circular motions in front of the rock. "You can't exactly go back to serving tea, Zuko, not in this city. Now the Dai Li know who you are."

Zuko's upper lip trembled. "I don't know." He was lost, caught up between two sides of a war he hadn't started. A war he didn't want to be part of.

She sent a sympathetic look his way. Then, expression turning serious, cast her eyes on the rapidly cooling wall. "The Avatar needs a firebending master."

Zuko blinked. Was she _suggesting...?_

"We haven't been able to find anyone to teach Aang firebending. Sure doesn't help that most firebenders are out to ruin the entire world and mercilessly kill the innocent."

He felt his heart clench when she spoke so of his people, but she wasn't exactly wrong.

"You know how to bend fire. Teaching Aang is one way you can gain a chance at a second life here in Ba Sing Se. A way you can earn their forgiveness. Who knows, maybe the Earth King will exonerate you of your many crimes against humanity."

He frowned. "Are you serious about this?"

"Dead serious."

Zuko scowled. "That would mean going against my Nation, betraying my own people. Do you realize what you're asking me to do?"

Katara raised an eyebrow. "I thought you said you'd given up your title and claim to the throne."

"That _wasn't_ my decision," he forced out between stiff lips.

"Ooh," she said, leaning in close. "So if the opportunity presents itself, you're not ruling out capturing Aang and delivering him to the Fire Lord so you can _'restore your honor'?"_ she air-quoted.

Zuko sighed, gazing up at the ceiling. " _If_ I teach the Avatar how to bend fire, he will set flame to hundreds of towns and villages all over the Fire Nation. Millions of people will die, my people. I may not live there any longer Katara, but I still care deeply about the Nation that birthed me."

"Aang isn't like that!" she exclaimed, sounding horrified.

"I was _there_ at the North Pole, Katara. I have seen with my own eyes the extent of destruction the Avatar can wreak. With Fire, he will become unstoppable. You're trying to tell me a man who lost everything: his place, his people, his childhood... A boy forced to grow up so young, a man who has nothing to lose, will _not_ seek vengeance against the Nation that took everything from him?" he grimaced. "For a hundred years my Nation has hurt people. And now the Avatar is back, the Fire Nation will be made to pay the price."

" _No,"_ she stated with feeling, "you're _wrong."_

"Am I? Believe me, I'd love to be wrong about this. But I'm no wide-eyed idealist Katara. I have traveled through the Earth Kingdom, I've met these people. They are angry at the Fire Nation. Their anger knows no bounds. With the Avatar's help, the Earth Kingdom troops will raid and pillage our towns and villages. They will rape our women and force our children into slavery. That is what's going to happen. The fight is not going to be honorable. There is too much hate, too much anger. Feelings of resentment that festered for a century won't just go away. It can't be that simple. And if I aid the Avatar in the destruction of my own Nation, I won't be able to live with myself. I'd rather die."

"Wow," Katara held up her hands, "slow down Zuko. That's not going to happen. Aang would never allow that. He's preparing to fight the Fire Lord. He _isn't after_ each village of your Nation. Aang only wants to stop Lord Ozai from wrecking the world."

"Oh yeah? How do you intend to win this war Katara? By killing the Fire Lord? My Father is very well protected. He _isn't_ going to fight Aang out in the open. I know my Father doesn't play fair," Zuko traced the edge of his scar. "He will force you to go through each village of the Fire Nation before you ever reach him."

A suffocating silence fell over them, one that lasted for hours. Neither Zuko nor Katara spoke a word. They worked in silence, bitterly kicking and slashing away at the rock. For every stone they shattered to bits, there was one more. It seemed like this wall would never end. Either these underground cell walls were unbelievably thick, or the Dai Li agents had collapsed the tunnel right after taking Zuko through it.

That thought sent goosebumps crawling up Zuko's bare arms. What if Azula had just left him here to die? Buried alive...

"Katara, stop."

She looked up from her work with a confused frown. Sweat dribbled down her forehead, the armpits of her tunic were soaked. A chilling thought struck Zuko. They were tiring themselves out. Here, deep underground, far away from another living soul, far off from anyone who could reach out to help. When was the last time he had even eaten anything? When had _she_ last eaten? And all they had was that one flask of water...

With a worried look, Zuko broke off a piece from his left shoe sole, and used it as kindling to feed a small fire on the ground. He untied his outer robe from his belt, unfolded the warm brown fabric, and draped it over Katara's shoulders.

She stared at him.

Crap, now Zuko had to explain himself, didn't he. In a way it pained him that each of his actions should be questioned. Traveling with Uncle had been so much easier. Then again, his Uncle had never been his enemy. So he supposed it couldn't be helped. No matter how hard he tried, some suspicion would always linger.

"Take a break," he told her. "Get some rest."

But Katara placed her hands on her hips and scowled at him. "We don't have _time_ for any breaks. _You_ might have made peace with the idea of the Dai Li possibly interrogating you, but _I_ have not. I haven't lost hope. We can still break out of here if we keep at it. Don't give up _now."_

There was fire in her eyes. Hair loopies danced wildly with her movements. Zuko looked at her. Really, _really_ looked at her. What he saw was a broken young girl, on the verge of collapse from physical overexertion. Maybe this was part of it? Part of the Dai Li torture technique... this was just the start.

" _Zuko!"_ she grabbed him by the shoulders. " _Snap out of it!"_

Katara shook him roughly. Zuko blinked. He wasn't going insane now, _was_ he?

"What if," he started in a small voice, "what if the Dai Li somehow planned this? Don't you think it's odd, how they let you keep your waterskin?" he gestured at the flask.

She looked at it. "I thought so too, at first. That it had to be a trap. Then again, Azula said something to me before they threw me in here. That she would pit me against you in a cage fight for her own enjoyment, if she ever got the chance. So I figured it was for that."

"But we're not in a cage," Zuko pointed all around them. "We're locked underground. There is no way for Azula to see what goes on here. No way for her to view the fight. This _'cage'_ has no bars, no windows, no peepholes for my sister to look through."

Katara frowned. "What are you getting at?"

"What if, and this is just an if, what if we're buried here alive?"

The waterbender's blue eyes widened. Then she quickly schooled her expression. "You're making mountains out of badgermole hills. We haven't run out of air, even after all this bending. There must be air vents," Katara pointed at the ceiling. "There _is_ a way out of here Zuko. We're not dead yet."

She huffed a breath of wet air into his face, then plopped down on the ground.

"But I suppose a break wouldn't hurt," she said, flexing her arms. "My wrists are sore." Katara pouted.

Zuko sat down beside her. He offered her a hand. "Want me to warm them for you?"

With the hesitant posture of someone reaching out to grab a prickle snake, she accepted his offer. Her hands were so cold. Zuko sent some more warmth into her muscles and tendons, hoping to soothe her pain. He didn't catch her staring at him in amazement until he was almost done.

"I thought Fire was only good for destruction," she whispered, looking deep into his eyes. "I didn't know it could be used for something like this."

Zuko shrugged, letting go of her hands. "Bending Fire requires a high degree of self control. Fire has to be bended with precision, or not at all."

She looked pensive. "Water is different. I could use it just fine in little day-to-day applications, even before I had a teacher who taught me how to fight."

He nodded, then smiled. "Actually, my uncle taught me a firebending move based on waterbending technique."

" _Really?"_ she was leaning forward. This close, they shared each other's breath. " _Show me!"_

Feeling a rush of heat to his face, Zuko scooted away from her. His back collided with the wall of the cave, and he sheepishly toyed with the ties of his sleeveless gi.

"It's a technique to redirect lightning. I can show you the forms?"

Katara nodded enthusiastically.

And so he stood, adopting the right stance. Zuko took a deep breath, then stretched his arms out and performed the slow, flowing motion, guiding it with his breathing. In his mind's eye, he pictured himself directing the lightning down to his stomach, then making the crackling energy flow up his other arm, directing it back at his attacker.

When he was done performing the move, he heard clapping. Zuko blinked. He looked over at where the girl sat on the ground, cheering him on.

"That looked great. Can I try?" she jumped to her feet, falling in stance right next to him. "Of course I won't be able to redirect lightning, but I _could_ adapt this to my waterbending. Mind if I try this with some water?" she grinned.

He shook his head, awed by her wild enthusiasm. "Go ahead."

Together, they went through the forms several times. On the last try, Katara actually got it. Zuko smiled at her warmly.

"Now you've got it," he said. "You really have a natural talent for bending."

Katara threw her head back in a hearty laugh. "Actually, no. I'm not talented _at all._ Normally I have to work super hard to get even the most basic of moves. Waterbending was always... a struggle for me," she smiled wistfully. "It wasn't easy. I had to stay up nights to practice instead of sleep, because I just _couldn't do_ the technique right."

Zuko stared at the girl, feeling her words resonate with something deep within him. Something he kept hidden, deep within the confines of his mind. The feeling of failure, and the drive that came along with that. The zeal to keep on going, keep pushing, to _not rest_ until he _had_ the thing he desired. Until he could firebend as good as his sister. Until he could sword fight as well as Master Piandao. He recognized _that same drive_ in this waterbender. And he had never expected to discover something so shockingly familiar lurking within the mind of a girl from the South Pole.

Katara laughed humorlessly. "Sometimes I envy the people who are truly talented. They have it so easy. Everything just... comes to them, I guess. But I try not to think like that," she shrugged with a playful smile. "They can't help being born lucky."

Zuko's mouth fell open. The girl went on talking, apparently not having noticed his shock.

"It's just that you're a good teacher," she said, placing a cool hand on his bare shoulder. "When you explain the forms, it's easy to understand. Which is why you should teach Aang. You're the best firebending teacher he could hope for."

He felt his lips tremble with words unspoken. Words that desperately needed to be said. But he had _no language_ for this, _no prior experience_ with putting these feelings into words. What he felt was weird and strange and oddly _vulnerable._ He felt like crying and laughing and sparring with her and hugging her all at once. Zuko simply did not know _what_ to say, _how_ to voice these thoughts and feelings locked deep inside. Because he had never been shown _how._ How to show friendly affection for a person of about his own age... he didn't know what would be appropriate, and what could be read _wrong._ So in his shocked stupor, he found himself unable to say a thing.

The fire went out. They were in total darkness.

Zuko guessed the last bit of his shoe sole must have burned up. He lit a new fire in the palm of his hand. Shadows danced over Katara's face as she looked expectantly up at him.

What was he supposed to do? What was he supposed to _say?_

Naturally, the _thing_ that fell from his mouth was an _awkward,_ stilted: "Alright. I will teach Aang how to firebend."

Something he should not have said, at all. It _wasn't_ what he'd meant to say. And now he was bound by his own _stupid_ word to betray the Fire Nation! Great, Zuko. Nice one. Why did he _always_ put his own foot in his mouth?? _Ugh._

That moment they heard stones rumbling. They both looked up in panic. Katara stepped in close, pressing against his chest. He placed a protective arm around her, holding up his other hand with live fire, ready to ward off an attack.

Suddenly the stone wall they had been hacking at split open in two. There was an adult man on the other side, an earthbender.

Zuko deepened his stance, expecting the Dai Li.

But the man lowered his arms and smiled at them. Zuko frowned, noticing a speck of light, a torch burning behind the stranger's back. A second figure stepped out from behind the earthbender. Zuko's hand with the live fire dropped to his side, its flame extinguished.

" _Uncle!"_

"Zuko." His uncle's voice was warm, and as he spread his arms wide Zuko rushed into them, giving his uncle a tight hug. Zuko couldn't help the tears that streamed down his face. He blamed it on the exhaustion, refusing to acknowledge the more complicated feelings of ambivalence and uncertainty that still coursed through him.

Quickly wiping his eyes before letting go of his uncle, he lit a flame in the palm of his hand, and rushed up the path the earthbender had shaped. "Come on, let's get out of here."

They emerged from the ground in the garden of the Royal Palace, under the cover of blooming Oyama magnolias. Their white flowers posed a stark contrast to the deep purple of the night sky. Moonlight reflected off the water in a small pond. It was peaceful here, quiet with the comforting sound of cricket snails chirping. Something about this garden, ...reminded Zuko of the one he had back home. The carefully kept garden he'd played in as a child.

He was pulled out of his nostalgic reveries by Uncle offering him half a heel of bread. Zuko took the bread; he noticed Katara having the other half. They ate quickly, after which the waterbender offered him her flask to drink from. It smelled weird, mixed with the metallic taste of bedrock and minerals, but Zuko gladly accepted. His throat was parched. The girl refilled her flask with water from the pond.

"Thank you," Katara said, turning towards Uncle, "eeuhh, uhh _Zuko's Uncle?_ We thought we were done for back there. You and your... ahh, _friend,_ arrived just at the right moment."

Uncle chuckled. "You can call me Iroh, Master Katara."

"Oh no," she blushed, holding up a hand. "I'm no Master. Really, I've only started learning how to waterbend. Far away from being a Master."

"Well then, Katara. I am glad we could meet again, even if it isn't under the best of circumstances."

They shared a gentle smile, before Katara turned to the earthbender. He was a man of short stature, about the same height as Zuko, but no longer growing. He had a simple clean-shaven face, the type that could easily blend in a crowd. No markings on his lean muscle body. Medium-brown hair cut short, light skin, pale green eyes, thin eyebrows. He wore unadorned dark-green robes with short sleeves, cheap hemp-and-cork shoes. If Zuko had to guess, this man was about thirty years old. Lu Ten would have been the same age now, had he lived.

"What's your name?" said Katara.

The man gave her a sad look, then spoke in an astonishingly soft voice: "It is better that you do not know it."

Zuko raised an eyebrow. "Better for whom?" he said, stepping up close, jutting his chin forward.

"For everyone," the man said, looking Zuko in the eye.

Something about the man's words disquieted Zuko. There was something unsettling about the manner in which this man had spoken. And _how_ had he _known_ where Azula and her conspirators had locked them up? There was no way Uncle could have known. This man must have told him. An awful thought struck Zuko. What if this man was part of the group that captured them? Well, one way to find out.

"Are you Dai Li?" Zuko growled, narrowing his eyes.

The man simply smiled. "I work for a different organization."

At this point Uncle stepped in between Zuko and the strange man, placing an admonishing hand on Zuko's chest, pulling him back. "Come now, we can't stay here for long."

"What?" Zuko started, confused. "Where are we going?"

"We must leave the city before dawn," said his uncle. "The Dai Li know who you are. We cannot stay here. It is not safe."

A shock ran through Zuko, through his entire being. "Uncle! No, no we _can't_ leave."

Uncle Iroh frowned, looking from Zuko to Katara. He nodded toward the girl. "You can come with us, Katara. We can escort you to where your friends are."

"Thank you for the offer, Iroh. That's very kind of you." Her eyes were wide, brows furrowed.

"That's _not it!"_ Zuko hissed, stepping between Katara and his Uncle. "Azula is here, in the city."

All color drained from Uncle Iroh's face. "Then we must go _immediately._ We don't have a minute to spare."

Zuko balled his hands to fists. "I'm sick and _tired_ of running. At some point I have to face her. Might as well be _now."_

Uncle stared at him like he had lost his mind. " _Why?_ Zuko, you have _no reason_ to fight your sister. Not here, not now."

"Eventually I will have to face her. There's no running from this, Uncle. We were destined to fight, Azula and me." Zuko set his jaw. "Might as well get it over with," he spit out with bitterness.

He had _never_ chosen this, the cutthroat rivalry between him and his sister. But he _knew_ he had to face it. There was no escaping it. He couldn't pretend it did not exist, wasn't happening, the way all of Ba Sing Se liked to pretend they weren't at war with the Fire Nation. Even if he no longer had a part to play in this bloody war, even if who sat on the throne had long been decided. This was never about that. What they had, him and his sister, went beyond national divides, beyond Fire Nation politics. This all started a decade ago, back when Azula first bested him at firebending. This continued through the years, only getting worse with the passing of time. There were no signs of Azula letting this go anytime soon.

So Zuko had to fight her. That's how he rationalized it to himself.

Uncle shook his head, a look of saddened disapproval grew on his face. "You are making a big mistake my nephew. This fight will not bring you the peace of mind you seek."

"I _have to_ fight her. There is no other way."

"No other way for _what?!_ To win back your place as rightful heir to the throne? Are you _still_ trying to be the next Fire Lord? Even after you've traveled through the war-torn Earth Kingdom, and witnessed firsthand all the pain and suffering the Fire Nation has brought these people? _You_ want to _be_ that!?"

Zuko felt someone gently tug at the back of his gi. Turning around, he saw it was Katara.

"Zuko, I agree with you. I want to fight Azula. If we can stop her here, we can still save Ba Sing Se."

His eyes widened.

"The city is not lost yet," Katara insisted. "If we just... _corner her,_ hold her up until Aang gets here. That's all we'd have to do. I need your help."

"Zuko!" his Uncle shouted. "You _can't_ stay here."

But something in his heart felt conflicted about his uncle's words. Katara's hopeful wide-eyed stare, and the thought... the thought of all the people he'd met in his days here. People like Jin, her family, the man who employed Zuko and his uncle at that teahouse, Jet... _if_ Jet was still alive. Their lives would be ruined if Azula succeeded in taking the city. And as much as Zuko hated some of those Upper Ring customers who treated him as _'less than'_ , ...none of them deserved to be thrown into a Fire Nation labor camp.

Zuko pursed his lip, turning to look his Uncle in the face. "You didn't raise a coward."

Uncle Iroh's jaw went slack. Something in the old man's face softened, his brows tented.

"Forgive me for being selfish," Uncle said. "I just can't stand to lose you."

Zuko held his breath. He had not considered things from his Uncle's perspective. His Uncle who had already lost his one and only son in the siege of Ba Sing Se. When news reached them of his cousin's unfortunate passing on the battlefield, an honorable but futile death, Zuko was only eleven years old. His cousin Lu Ten had been a young man of only twenty-five. The loss of Lu Ten, second in line to the throne, was a big blow to their Nation, an even greater loss to the Royal Family. General Iroh's only son would be dearly missed by the men with whom he'd gone to war, some of them had been his closest friends, ...by his fiancee, they'd been scheduled to marry in the summer, a summer he never lived to see... Zuko would also miss his cousin. He couldn't even imagine what it must feel like for Uncle, to lose his one and only child.

Uncle Iroh had no one. His son had died in a battle that he started, his wife and the mother of his child had passed away from an infectious disease twelve years ago. Zuko recalled seeing her coffin burn on the funeral pyre. It had been the first funeral he had ever attended. Zuko was four, and Lu Ten was eighteen. Azula had been too young to remember. But Zuko knew, he knew that ever since that day, Lu Ten was the only one Uncle Iroh had left. And when _he_ died...

It changed him, so much so that Uncle Iroh gave up his birthright to rule over their Nation, in favor of Zuko's and Azula's father, Lord Ozai. He became Zuko's mentor and firebending instructor, having retired from the military. Zuko appreciated his uncle's support in teaching him how to bend their element, but still it pained him to see a once so celebrated General being reduced to _this._

His cousin's untimely demise had been one reason why Zuko spoke up during that War Council meeting in the Fire Lord's Chamber three years ago. That was two years after Lu Ten had died. Zuko knew he was supposed to keep his mouth shut. He _also_ knew that if he _didn't_ speak out against that plan at that very moment, hundreds of young men would go the same way Lu Ten had. They would lose their lives under the walls of Ba Sing Se. And for what? For some pompous old General's vanity project? The troops around Ba Sing Se weren't even posing a direct threat to their Nation. All those Earth Kingdom troops did was defend their own city. And no one in the War Chamber opposed that General's plan, not even Uncle, though he _had_ the authority. Zuko saw no other option. He was in a position to make changes, fate had brought him here. The lives of hundreds of young men were in his hands. What was said here _mattered,_ regardless of who said it. He just needed these Generals to hear him.

And, in spite of everything that occurred after, in spite of that fateful Agni Kai where Zuko lost his Honor, he later learned that the forty-first Division had been spared. After hearing what the Crown Prince had to say, another General suggested a more efficient battle plan, one that did not involve sacrificing an entire Division of new recruits. Zuko's words _had mattered._ He had _saved lives_ that day, even though he had to pay for it with his Honor. And, by consequence, his claim to the throne. Zuko understood now, what he could not comprehend when he was younger. That the path to getting what you desired was never straightforward. Politics was a difficult game, and never favored the direct approach. He had to walk in circles if he was ever going to get anywhere, like his Uncle's most favored board game Pai Sho.

"But if you choose to stay and fight," Uncle continued. "I have no choice but to stand here with you. I am _not_ leaving you here."

Zuko stared back at him. He did _not_ wish to put his Uncle's life in danger.

They heard a cough. Turning their heads toward the sound, they saw the nameless earthbender smirk at them.

"While this may be a touching family reunion, I'm afraid I can't stick around to watch what happens. Later!" he winked, before bending a new hole in the earth, and disappearing underground.

Katara raised an eyebrow. "Weird fellow."

Uncle smiled. "He took after his teacher."

"Huh?"

"That man was a student of King Bumi."

Katara blinked rapidly at the spot where the stranger had stood; Uncle chuckled.

Zuko groaned internally. This was no time for fun and games. Clicking his tongue, he called their attention. Katara sent him a quizzical look. He stepped close to her, placing his left hand squarely on her shoulder.

"If we attack, we have to strike _now._ Your waterbending is stronger at night, Azula's lightningbending is weaker. Tonight is our chance, our only chance, to put an end to their schemes and save the city."

She nodded, turning serious.

Uncle had a pensive look on his face. The old man scratched at his beard, staring at the Palace building. "But do we have any idea where any of our targets are?"

"Well," Zuko's face took on a pinched expression, " _no,"_ he admitted.

Katara puckered her lips. "If the Princess has no clue we escaped, then she could be in bed sleeping."

Zuko and Katara shared a look.

"You might be onto something here."

She grinned. "I know where the guest chambers are."

Zuko snorted.

"Your sister and her friends are in for a cool awakening," said Katara, bending some pond water into her hand.

" _Friends?"_

Since when did Azula have _friends?_

* * *

Toph had raised quite the ruckus when she came stomping in, waking everyone at camp. It was the dead of night. Alarmed by the things Toph had heard, Dad called an emergency meeting. Now they were all seated in the big tent, lanterns glowing.

"We need to send word to the Earth Kingdom battalion guarding Ba Sing Se," said one Warrior of their Tribe. "And to our Sister Tribe in the North."

"We _can't,"_ said another. His dreadlocks swayed as the man shook his head. "We don't have enough information. How many ships we talkin? Ten? _Twenny?_ Pointless to send such a vague message as _'some Fire Navy ships are sailing towards the East Lake',_ doh! That don't tell them _a thing."_

"I still think we should send word," said yet another Water Tribe Warrior. He flicked his eyes toward Sokka. "Maybe we should send the boy?"

The first Warrior scratched at his goattee. "Good thinking. Then we won't lose much manpower."

Sokka glared at them.

"I hold that we should wait till we have more information," said the man with the dreadlocks. "Scatter the bay with tangle mines, lay low up the inlet. Let them come. We will slaughter them as they pass through the inlet. If there are any ships left, then we send the boy with word to Ba Sing Se."

The other Tribesmen shook their heads at the guy.

"What?" he said. "My plan is a solid plan."

Sokka groaned, rolling his eyes at his fellow Tribesmen. They were all so concerned with assessing the _number_ of Fire Navy ships coming their way, that they _barely_ spared a thought to _how_ they were going to fight them. This strategy was all wrong. They were all _too focused_ on the itty bitty details, _completely missing_ the big picture! Gah.

From what Toph had told them, it was likely there were _firebenders_ on those ships. And, aside from Toph, _none_ _of the_ warriors on their side _could bend!_ They'd need a smart strategy to fight off these Fire Navy vessels, and fast. They were running out of time.

"Where is the girl now?" a younger Tribesman asked. "The one that can earthbend?"

"She is resting," Bato informed their men.

"I was thinking," said that younger Tribesman.

"Go on," Dad nodded, motioning with his hand and allowing the young man to speak.

"Maybe she can throw boulders at the Fire Navy ships that make it up the inlet?"

"That girl is _blind,"_ an Elder Tribesman said reproachfully. "She couldn't aim at those ships even if she tried."

The man who'd come with this suggestion curled inward, not saying another word.

"Besides," said the Elder, "she is but a _child._ Children have _no business_ fighting on the battlefield. I say we send her back to Ba Sing Se. The girl can travel a lot faster than Chief Hakoda's son. She can be there by daylight. This strategy has the best outcome for everyone."

Sokka pursed his lip, frowning. While he agreed that making Toph fight on the front line was cruel, ...she _was_ just a kid, after all; she was also their only hope of stopping these Fire Navy warships. Without her, ...well, it's safe to say Sokka didn't have any illusions about making it out of Chameleon Bay alive.

He didn't fear death. He was ready to die if it meant protecting the ones he loved, keeping them safe. But if he failed... If he and his men fought to the death, and it wasn't enough. Wasn't enough to stop the Fire Navy fleet from passing through that inlet, and entering the East Lake... that was what Sokka feared most. That the Fire Nation would hurt the people he loved. Katara was still in Ba Sing Se, she would be just fine behind the city walls. Things were a little different for Suki. Last he had seen her, she was at the East Lake, safeguarding refugees on their travels to the city.

_Dammit all,_ where was Aang when you needed him?!

With _dread_ Sokka acknowledged this was how most people must have felt a hundred years ago... when Aang just up and left. How many people had suffered because Aang had turned his back on them? Didn't he use to have a friend in the Fire Nation? What was his name... Kuzon? Whatever happened to Kuzon? Was he still alive? Had he adapted to life in the Fire Nation? Had he fled to the Earth Kingdom? Had he died? Died young? Had he opposed Sozin's rule and been killed for that? All because Aang hadn't been there when he was needed most. Those people must have felt like Nature itself had given up on them. And in a way, it had. The Avatar was the human embodiment of this planet. If he wasn't there, then that meant this planet had given up on its people. And that was one chilling thought that did not sit well with Sokka.

He stood and walked out the tent, sickened by his own thoughts and the uninspired words of his fellow Tribesmen. On his lonesome, Sokka took a stroll along the beach, crunching sea-shells with each angry step he took. Five minutes later, he ran into someone he had not expected to meet.

"Toph," he blinked at her. "You aren't asleep?"

"I've slept more than enough inside that metal cage my parents had me locked up in. I don't know what that dunderhead earthbending teacher drugged me with, but it was _strong._ Think I'd rather be awake for a change."

"Yeah," Sokka smiled. "Pretty impressive you can metalbend now. I don't think anyone's ever done that before."

She puffed out her chest proudly. "I am the first Metalbender in the world."

"Haha," Sokka laughed, some of the tension in his shoulders releasing, "the Fire Nation won't know what hit them! All their technology is _based on metal,_ pffft!"

"Yeah. Remember that stupid drill? Imagine how much _easier_ it would have been to wreck it with metalbending," she flexed her fingers.

Sokka stilled. A curious thought struck him. He decided to ask her. "Toph d'you think you could..." he trailed off, knowing that it was likely a pipe dream.

"Could _what_ Captain Boomerang?"

He shook his head. "Forget about it, I..."

" _No._ Tell me what you were going to ask."

Her feet dug deeper in the sand, paving a hard stone platform. Sokka sighed.

"Ok. Would it be possible... for you to put a dent in the hull of a Fire Navy warship?"

"But I can't swim."

"I could take you there, by cutter sail ship."

Toph hummed, tilting her head to one side. "You'd have to sail up _real close_ for me to touch the metal ship. And wouldn't _that_ pull your tiny little _fishing boat_ down under the current of the sinking warship?"

"But you can do it, right?"

"Well," she shrugged. "Yeah, it's not that difficult. All I need is direct contact with the metal, or the earth that metal rests on."

That moment, everything clicked. All the puzzle pieces fit together.

"Toph! You're a genius," he shouted, squeezing her shoulders in a tight friendly hug.

She shrugged in his embrace. "Remember to credit me when you write the History books."

"Oh, I will."

Sokka ran back to his Dad's tent, threw the sealskin flap open, poked his head inside, and yelled at the top of his lungs:

"I _know_ how we can stop them!"


	4. The Plunge

"it takes courage  
to grow  
up  
and become  
who you really are" ~ e.e. cummings

* * *

Aang's eyes were shut, though he was awake, seated cross-legged on the central observatory tower's flat stone roof. No living soul stirred at this hour. The Eastern Air Temple was serene and quiet. Even the local wildlife slept through the dark night. Aang directed his thoughts toward opening the chakras one by one, the way Guru Pathik had taught.

He stumbled when he got to the final chakra; he _always_ did. For some reason, each time he thought of Katara he wished to hold her, touch her, run his fingers through her long brown hair, stare for hours into her deep blue eyes. Talk with her, for hours. Practice waterbending. That gave them such a deep connection, Aang couldn't even describe it. It was something warm, like a candle burning in the dark. A small little thing, and _vulnerable_ to any change.

He realized he was afraid to lose her. He did not know _how_ she felt. All he knew were his own feelings for her, and the fact that the only times she had kissed him was a friendly peck on the cheek, and when stone carvings in the crypt of Oma and Shu had told her to. So Aang had really no idea if Katara dreamed of him the way he dreamed of her.

Sure he could have asked. Could have plucked up his courage and said it:

"I like you, Katara. As more than just a friend. More than a best friend, more than anyone in the world. I like you more than Appa. I want to spend the rest of my life with you."

He could pour his heart out. He knew she would listen. Katara would hear him out. She wouldn't laugh at his face or try to shut him down. They were good enough friends for him to be totally open with her.

And that was the problem.

What if...

............what if she didn't feel the same?

They had a war to fight, and months and weeks and days to spend together, stuck together, on the back of Appa. Saying these kind of things, talking of _love_ and _feelings_ would only make it super _weird_ if those feelings were not returned. And so far, Aang had been given no reason to believe his feelings would ever be reciprocated.

Heck, even Madame Wu had seen nothing _but war_ in his fortune. The old woman had _lied_ to spare his feelings. And _were_ her predictions _ever_ wrong? Maybe that was what the future had in store for him. Maybe he would end up alone, just as the monks and the sisters at the Air Temples had.

For the first time ever, Aang actually considered this. He had never intended to live the way Monk Gyatso had. Even before Aang was told of his destiny as the Avatar, he had felt cooped up in the Southern Air Temple. He loved the place, but he also longed to seek out new places. This world was so big. And he longed to be free. Free to go and fly wherever he wanted. Free of the suffocating rules the Elder Monks imposed. Free to live, the way _he_ wanted to. Free to love.

It was not in his nature to be chained to one spot. Air Nomads were born to be free, bender or no bender. Had he not been born a bender, then his mother would never have given him up at birth. He would have traveled the land along with his family and their Tribe, going all places, meeting all kinds of people, seeing all sorts of thrilling things. So much more than Aang had ever experienced while accompanying Gyatso on his diplomatic meetings abroad. During these meetings, Aang was told to make as little noise as possible, and leave a good impression on their hosts. Sometimes he got to goof around, such as times spent with Bumi on their travels to Omashu, and when Monk Gyatso took him along to Ma'inka Island, where Aang ran into Kuzon. So it's not like he _hadn't_ seen the world. But there was only so much you could see on a short vacation, while sticking to a beaten path. He would have seen _more_ if he'd grown up with a Nomad Tribe, like the one he had been born to. Though he had no recollection of who his parents were, and what his family was like. His very first memories were in the Southern Air Temple.

Aang did not resent his parents for giving him away. It _was_ the way of their people after all. Children who had the potential to become great benders were sent to live and train with the monks and sisters. Boys went to live with the monks in the North or South Temples, girls were sent to the sisters in the West or East Temples. And so had he. Aang couldn't resent anyone for that, much less the people who had given him life. He was glad he was given the opportunity to learn to bend his element. And when he grew up, he would leave the Temple and become a Nomad himself, taking all the lessons he had learned with him on his journeys.

But perhaps the monks and sisters who spent their entire lives in the Air Temples, who grew old there and never knew the touch of a woman or man... Perhaps they wanted to live that way. Maybe it was a choice, _their_ choice. They had chosen to be free of all earthly attachment so they could tap into a power barely understood by most people. Pure cosmic energy was the power they sought. They gave up on love, they sacrificed their desire to achieve true spiritual freedom. And this allowed them to be free of envy, free of those treacherous feelings of jealousy... because they had no desire for earthly things. And among the stars, everyone was equal and no one lacked a thing.

"To give does not mean to lose," he recalled Monk Gyatso once telling him.

At the time, Aang thought Gyatso had been talking of the homeless people who had shown up at their Temple, begging for food. But now he wondered if Gyatso had talked in wider terms, rather than just about charity.

His love for Katara, maybe it did not _need_ reciprocity. Maybe it could freely be given, without the desire of something in return.

Did he love Katara enough, to not ask anything of her? To be completely satisfied with just making her smile, without itching to touch her hair, or dying to kiss her lips... Was his love for her purely selfish, or could it be reconciled with the selfless act of giving? After all, he did _n't need_ to be attached to her to love her. He was not attached to her now, not really, even though he wanted to be, ...and he still loved her. Was it all out of the expectation he would get something out of it? Was his love for her really that shallow?

No.

No, it was not.

Digging hard and deep inside his own psyche, Aang saw that he was hopelessly devoted to this girl. And he would follow her to the far ends of the world, if she asked him to. He was ready to do _everything_ for Katara, to move Heaven and Earth for her, if she desired it, regardless of how she felt about him. His feelings did not depend on how much she liked him, or how much she did for him. These feelings would always be there, in his heart, regardless of what she did. His love for her was unconditional.

And realizing _that_ was both hauntingly beautiful _and scary._ Why did girls have to be so scary? Aang sighed, placing a hand over his heart. He felt it beat, and sensed the tight net of Passion flower vines encasing his heart, the passion vines that had grown with each day he spent with Katara, with each victory they celebrated, and with each loss.

With his Heart Chakra fully opened, the emotional raw energy spilling out, he finally understood which part of his love for Katara would always remain, no matter what. And with this thought, a new starry path opened up, reaching far into the depths of the universe. Aang understood he was astrally projecting when he saw the Eastern Air Temple far below him, growing tinier and tinier with each step taken towards the stars.

* * *

Mai rarely slept well. Which worked out well on nights like these, when Azula mandated they sleep in shifts. It was a win-win really. Ty Lee got some much needed shut-eye, and Mai finally had a moment to herself. Crawling closer to the bedside oil lamp, she untucked a small scroll from her belt, and tugged at the dark red ribbon that served as bookmark. A nice cool breeze carried the scent of Oyama magnolia through the open window as Mai resumed her reading at chapter four.

It was a Romance scroll, a fairly new one. Mai had gotten it as a birthday gift from her mother earlier this year, _before_ Azula had shown up at New Ozai and turned her world on its head. The scroll was written in Ma'inkan, the language spoken on Ma'inka Island. It was only due to Mai's elite education that she could read and write in all languages spoken within her Nation. Mai had to know all languages of her people if she were to one day be the Fire Lord's wife. She'd been meaning to get around to reading the love story scroll, but these days her life was so hectic, there never was any time.

The novel followed the life of Kara, a commoner girl from Ma'inka Island. This girl had two suitors. One whose father was rich, a boy from a merchant household. The other was the bastard son of an Earth Kingdom slave. Both suitors were fine young men, skilled at their trade, with blessed futures ahead of them, and Kara could not make a choice. The previous chapter ended on a cliffhanger: Kara's grandmother got severely sick. Her family could not afford to buy the medicine the Healer had prescribed. Kara hoped that the right choice of a suitor would save her grandmother's life. What she did not know, however, was that the merchant father of her wealthier suitor had recently suffered a great financial loss. To make up for that, the man had had to sell off all his assets, leaving his family just as poor as the next commoner.

None of Kara's suitors had any money. Mai was engrossed in the scene where Kara was opening the wedding gift from her in-laws, about to discover the family she had just married into was completely penniless, when someone rudely opened the bedroom door without first knocking.

Mai pouted, annoyed, and narrowed her eyes at the neatly printed characters she had been reading. The Dai Li had some nerve. She slipped the ribbon back between rolls of paper, and pushed the scroll underneath her blanket, then sat up in bed.

But it was not the Dai Li who stood there, frozen in the opening of her bedchambers. Mai frowned in confusion at the long lost twin brother of Prince Zuko. He gaped right back at her, with this stupid commoner's expression on his face. Mai tilted her head to one side and raised an eyebrow, not amused. How had he escaped? How had he known where to find her? The Dai Li had assured them there was no escaping the Crystal Catacomb Prison Cells, not without earthbending. Was this boy an earthbender? Mai pursed her lips. One way to find out.

Surreptitiously she reached inside her sleeve, then flung a knife at him.

The guy jumped out of the way, a look of panic in his eyes. Mai puckered her lips in thought. Clearly, he was trained for battle. A simple peasant would not have succeeded in dodging that knife. She'd aimed for his pant leg, hoping to pin him to the wall, but it could have nicked him in the leg if he dodged wrong.

Her knife had not touched the boy at all. It jammed into the stucco wall behind him with a " _thwack."_ Mai curled her lip morosely. She'd have to pick up the knife later. Remember exactly where her willow leaf throwing knives were; she didn't have that many.

While the guy was still debating whether to fight or run, Mai skillfully dug another knife out of her robes. She tossed it.

This time her knife drew blood, nicked him in the upper right arm. He howled out in pain, squeezing his eyes shut.

Mai saw this as her chance. The guy was obviously not a bender. If he had been, he would have attacked her by now, sent a flying boulder her way. He hadn't. So she leapt at him, withdrawing the retractable hairpin daggers from her hair buns.

A split-second before she was on top of him, he opened his eyes, yelped, and moved out of the way. Mai growled, landing gracefully on the ground.

The guy backed away from her. But now he was facing the door, his back was to the window. So he ended up approaching Ty Lee's sleeping form. Mai smirked. They had him cornered.

Just then the guy lunged at her.

Mai's eyes went wide. She had _not_ expected this. Leaping backwards, she tried to put a safe distance between her and the young man. She was a long range fighter that did better outside of close-combat situations. The guy might not be a bender, but his arms looked muscular, and he was taller than her. She couldn't let this guy get too close. Mai threw another willow leaf knife, aiming for his chest.

Not his heart, nothing that would leave permanent damage. They needed fake-Zuko to be alive when they presented him to the Fire Lord.

The guy blocked her attack with his left arm. The knife cut him close to the elbow, slashing his pale arm a bright red. He panted, still running, and winced in pain.

Mai set her teeth. Pivoting on the ball of her foot, she dashed towards him, daggers at the ready. With any luck, this big oaf would run straight into her daggers. His own momentum used against him. She grinned.

There was a spinning kick, fast as lightning. Mai winced when the back of his heel collided with her wrists, knocking the weapons from her hands, disarming her. The hairpin daggers clattered over the stone floor, beyond Mai's reach. Frantically, she looked around for her throwing knives. She needed to get back to those.

With all this noise and commotion of Mai's metal weapons clanking against the stone floor, Princess Azula finally began to stir. The Princess sat up in bed, rubbing her eyes yawning. The intruder was fast approaching Mai, who tried to get back to where her first willow leaf knife was wedged into the wall.

Had the Dai Li turned on them? It was a little odd how the Dai Li had not yet jumped into the fray. It seemed as if they were laying low, watching. Observing her fight from the shadows, waiting to see who came out on top. These Earth Kingdom cops were just as cold blooded as Princess Azula.

Mai found her knife, wrenched it free. Now serious, this time she aimed to kill. She flung the knife at the good side of his face, a distraction. Then, hidden behind her elbow and the long sleeves of her robe, she threw two more knives in quick succession, her last knives: lungs, kidneys. He was too close to dodge them. Mai watched him block her first knife, the one to his head. Doing so, he covered half his vision with his own arm. He wouldn't see her next knives coming. She bit her lip, waiting in tense anticipation in the half dark.

Azula fully sat up, narrowing her eyes at the male intruder in their room. " _Brother,"_ she spoke. "Haven't you disgraced yourself enough?"

Predictably, the boy did not react to Azula's words. Because he wasn't really Zuko, not her actual brother. He would not recognize her voice, and Azula's words spoken to him in Calderan tongue meant nothing to an Earth Kingdom commoner.

Mai's second knife scraped across his chest, ripping his gi open. The boy scrambled to block it with his free arm. The knife grazed his arm, blood gushed from the wound. He grunted. His face was drawn in pain. Mai gasped as she watched him raise his left knee up to his chest. Her third knife sank into his lower left leg. His pant leg stained dark with blood.

Hissing, he extended his left leg out in a front snap kick. Mai had barely any time to register that he stood too far away for his kick to reach her, when red hot _flames_ shot from his shoes.

She ducked, narrowly avoiding getting her hair singed. Then, as she slowly rose to her feet, she stared at the intruder, wide-eyed. He stared back at her, a look of hurt confusion on his face. She noticed his arms and left leg were bleeding, the throwing knife still stuck in the flesh of his left leg... the brown cloth around it was rapidly growing darker. Realization shuddered through her like an electric shock. So it _really_ _was_ Zuko.

And he had been holding back throughout most of their fight. Mai blinked at the boy she'd been in love with ever since she was a little girl, the boy she thought she knew. He looked _so different_ without his long hair, or his regal robes. Bleeding from all limbs, with his gi torn open, short hair ruffled, chest heaving and panting fire, he looked more like a stricken cat deer pursued by hunters, arrows in its hind legs.

"So you have chosen your side," he rasped. Fire escaped his mouth with each breath.

Mai clenched her jaw. "I side with my Nation. Where do _your loyalties_ lie?"

A crazed grin cracked on the Banished Prince's once so handsome face. Spirits, what had the Dai Li _done_ _to him?!_

"Heh," he chuckled darkly, ripping the willow leaf knife out of his leg with a strained hiss. "Are you doing what's best for our Nation? Or what's best for _my sister?"_ he said, tossing the knife aside.

Mai stared at him. By this point, Azula had risen to her feet. Standing imperiously on top of her bed, she aimed a fist of blue flame at Zuko's head.

He dodged it, having kept track of her movements from the corner of his eye. Zuko rolled over the ground, shooting orange flames at his sister from his feet. Flames that Azula easily countered with her own, punching the air with efficient, calculated strikes, lighting the room up in cold blue hues. Mai just stood there, staring at the display of fire on fire...

They hardly needed the oil lamp now... Inside their bedchambers, cramped with all the fighting, it was bright as day.

Ty Lee stretched, lazily crawling out from under her bedsheets. "Morning already?" she said, looking to Mai. A yawn escaped her pouty lips. "I feel like I've barely had any sleep."

Mai shrugged. "Get up. Quit your whining." She narrowed her eyes, studying Zuko's forms. His bending had improved quite a bit since she had last seen him fight, on the Caldera City training grounds three years ago. But it wasn't up to par with Azula's focused precision. "We have a task to do."

" _Ooohhhhh,"_ Ty Lee crooned, wiggling her eyebrows. " _Zuko's_ here."

" _Yes,"_ Mai groaned, exasperated with how her childhood friend was being. "And we have to stop him before he _injures himself_ fighting Azula."

Ty Lee tilted her head to one side, frowning. "You have that little faith in him, Mai?" she said, watching the fight with wide eyes.

Mai elbowed her friend rather roughly.

"Ouch! What was that for?"

Mai rolled her eyes. "Go _knock him out,_ duh."

"Okay, okay," she gathered her braid in a knot, patted down her skirt. She grinned, readying a pounce. "Would've been fun to watch them really go at it. I've never seen Azula try this hard before."

With an effortless backflip, Ty Lee landed right behind Zuko's exposed back. Any moment now...

A second blast of orange flame drew Mai's attention to the door. An overweight elderly firebender was shooting flames from his fists. Mai groaned, rolling her eyes a second time that night. _His Laziness Retirement Home Iroh,_ of course. No big surprise there. With him for a mentor, no wonder Zuko had turned out the way he had.

Ty Lee scooted away from Zuko, keeping close to the wall. She pushed herself off the wall, gathering speed as she reached out to punch Iroh in the ankle. The old General moved back. Mai used this moment to grab one of her fallen hairpin daggers. She flung it at the old General, pinning his long formal robe to the floor. Now he could no longer run to evade Ty Lee's chi blocking punches. Mai smirked. These Earth Kingdom people really had not considered mobility when designing clothes; even their men's clothes were ludicrously long. Ty Lee swung her arm.

And missed. Just that moment, a torrent of water rushed in through the open window, lifting them all up onto a tidal wave. Mai fought to keep her balance. Ty Lee got separated from the old General, and pushed up against a dressing table. Zuko fell over, head first into the water, while Azula glared daggers at the person riding the wave.

It was their other captive, the waterbender. Mai's eyes went wide. This was an organized attack. They had been set up. Her eyes darted back to Zuko, who struggled to get up into a fighting stance. Prince Zuko, her first love, the Banished Prince, a coward who disrespected his own father, and had passed up his only chance at restoring his Honor in an Agni Kai. The Fugitive Zuko, once believed dead at the hands of wicked Pirates; when she first heard the news, Mai had cried for weeks. The same Zuko who later showed up at the North Pole, who was seen resting _in the saddle of the Avatar's sky bison,_ according to reports by the lucky few Fire Navy men who had survived the bitter arctic battle and made the journey home unharmed. Mai couldn't believe it when the rumors first reached her. It must have been false news, lies spread to slander the already heavily disliked Prince. No doubt Azula was behind these slanderous lies.

The Princess had always coveted the position Prince Zuko was bestowed with at birth, that of the First Born. Ever since they were little, Azula had always tried to undermine her older brother, any which way. The ruthless ambition of the Princess would one day seek to overthrow the very structures that made their Nation great. The line of succession could _not_ be tampered with, unless granted by the Fire Lord's or Fire Lady's own will. It was the First Born's divine right to rule, bestowed upon him or her by the Spirits of Fire themselves: Rho, the God of the Sun, and Pel, the God of Lava, the liquid fire that brewed inside volcanoes all across their Nation. Princess Azula was so self-centered she disrespected even the Gods, wishing the title of Fire Lady for herself. Mai knew what that meant. That meant all members of the Royal Family had _to die_ before Azula could ascend to the throne. To die, _or_ disgrace themselves in such a manner they lost their Honor permanently, and could no longer be trusted to lead their Nation. Princess Azula wished death and dishonor on _her own family._ This was mostly the reason for Mai to harbor a strong dislike of the Princess, ever since they were kids. And perhaps that was also the reason why she empathized with Zuko when his sister bullied him. A feeling that would eventually lead her to see the Prince in a romantic light, and dream of marrying him, when they got older. But now... Now she saw it with her own eyes. And she could no longer deny the truth: Zuko was a traitor, a traitor to his people, to his Nation. Zuko had sided with the Avatar, he had betrayed them all.

* * *

Bato breathed in the cool night air through his nose, out through his mouth, dipping his oar into the water. The Eastern Sea was calm tonight, barely a wind in their sails. So they needed the extra manpower if they were to reach the Fire Navy fleet before sunrise. If they arrived late, they were all doomed. Bato rowed harder, taking deep greedy breaths, like he was drinking the cool air.

Bjarni, son of Adeola, a young member of their Tribe, nineteen years of age, sat on port side and helped Bato row their ship. Olu, thirty-eight year old man with a goatee, controlled the jib sail with a steady hand, making good use of the little wind they had. Lanre secured the mainsail; his dreadlocks obscured part of his face, as he sent a resolute stare at the dark horizon. This man was twenty-seven years of age, and the most likely to be elected Chief, should something happen to Hakoda that would leave him unsuited to battle. Lanre was young, charismatic, and had the ambition to lead. He was also brave and a kind man. He had two sons back home, from two different women. Bato cracked a smile, looking over at Sokka, who sat by the tiller, steering.

A sombre expression cast over Sokka's face. Bato sighed. No doubt the boy was thinking of the battle to come. His young friend, the earthbender, sat beside him; one hand resting on his knee. That poor girl. Bato couldn't even imagine what that was like. On their wooden ship, wholly disconnected from the earth, the girl couldn't see a thing. She was completely blind.

The trust she must have in Hakoda's son was immense. And the Chief himself had trusted Bato with his one and only son. Bato couldn't let Hakoda down, not after everything that happened between them. Bless his silly old heart, Hakoda meant everything to him. No matter what happened tonight, these two kids were making it out alive. Even if Bato had to lay down his life.

"There!" Lanre pointed at some specks of black on the horizon.

"Keep your _voice down,"_ Sokka hissed at the man, rising from his seat.

The earthbender's hand fell from Sokka's knee. She contented herself with remaining seated, holding onto the hull for balance.

Sokka shielded his eyes with a hand, and peered out over the water. "I see them," he blinked. "Five, no... _ten,_ eleven... _fifteen!_ There's fifteen ships with firebenders in them."

Lanre blew out a defeated sigh. "I say we head back, warn the others. This is one too many. Five ships, we could have taken on. Fif _teen?_ That's crazy work," Lanre shook his head.

Sokka pouted, abandoning his spot at the tiller, and walking over to Lanre, who stood at the middle of their ship.

"What better strategy _is_ there?" Hakoda's son wanted to know. "We _can't_ let them enter the East Lake. Over my dead body."

Bato winced, hearing Sokka talk like this... He was about to step in, break up their squabble, when Olu glanced over his shoulder at the two boys.

"We're veering off course," said Olu, tugging at the jib sail.

Sokka blinked, then doubled back to the stern. Both hands on the tiller, he put all his upper body strength into changing the ship's path. When Sokka was done, he rested his panting chest on the tiller, collapsing over it.

"If they're smart, their best fighters will be on the ships making up the rear of their fleet," said Bato to his men. "Those are the ships we want to take out first."

Sokka, Lanre and Bjarni nodded grimly.

"With any luck, we can sink 'em before the rest of the fleet catches on," said the girl.

She was staring at nothing in particular, a neutral expression on her face. Bato looked at her with sadness in his heart. Born without the ability of sight, she had never learned to emote with her face. Even in times of great distress or exuberant joy, her face would always remain impassive. Like that of a stone statue, forever locked in its vacant blind stare.

The black ships were coming closer. They were moving at far greater speed than Bato's cutter sailing ship ever could. This sailboat was built to maneuver around icebergs, sail through icy waters, not to traverse warm seas at a high speed.

Bato pulled in his oar. He gave Bjarni a hand sign to stop rowing. Now they just needed to make as little noise as they could. The whole mission hinged on them passing through the Fire Navy fleet undetected. Disturbing the water's path with their oars would only needlessly draw attention, while adding little to their speed. So they lay still, and let the sails carry them toward the approaching fleet. Sokka pressed a silencing finger to the earthbender's lips. Bato stifled a fond chuckle. He found it amusing how the boy could be a cheesy goofball in mundane settings, and a serious warrior with a paranoid streak when the situation called for it. Just like his Dad... It was almost uncanny how much Sokka and Hakoda were alike. Bato shook his head, he shouldn't be thinking of Hakoda at a time like this.

He noticed Bjarni gulp and shudder in fear at the approaching dark warships that towered above them. Bato squeezed his shoulder, then offered him an encouraging smile. Sokka steered them between two warships of the fleet's left flank. Everyone held their breath.

Minutes went by in tense silence as they listened to the low hum of engines. Sokka stared straight ahead; his left hand firm on the tiller, right hand at his shoulder-strap, boomerang at the ready. Lanre and Olu controlled the sails as quietly as the boat would let them, passing the rope gently through their hands when needed. Bjarni's eyes scanned the deck of the ships high above them. Bato joined him. He let his eyes wander over the metal hull of the warships, their many windows... the small cabins that were surely there. Then onto the deck, where he saw soldiers on patrol, marching in strict streamlined patterns. Two officers rested against the railing; one of them was smoking a cigar.

None of them looked back at the men staring up at them from the small Water Tribe sail ship below. Bato breathed a bit easier once they passed the vanguard.

And no one had noticed them yet.

Bato knew why. This plan was insane. No wonder the Fire Navy hadn't seen it coming. Who would have expected a lone cutter sailing ship to sail straight into a whole fleet of steam-powered warships? Sokka's plan was so out of left field, and that's what made it brilliant. The Fire Navy never saw them coming.

The next part was tricky. They sailed up close to the next warship in line, docked to it. Bato and Bjarni kept eyeing the deck for any sign of eyes watching them. Sokka took Toph's hand in his, and guided her to starboard, placing her hands flat on the warship's metal hull.

She drew in a breath, like a tiny little gasp. "Sokka," she whispered, sounding frightened. "There's _people_ in there, lots of 'em. Non-combatants."

" _Sshhhhhhh!"_ he hissed close to her ear.

"But Sokka! I, ..." she faltered, shoulders sagging with a heavy weight.

Bato knew what that felt like: the heavy weight of guilt. This war was dreadful. And had many casualties, both among the military _and_ among civilians. Some of which could not be avoided.

"Can you do it?" Sokka asked impatiently. Time was not on their side. Given the speed these Fire Navy vessels traveled at, they had to be quick, sink the ships _before_ they could no longer keep up.

Not letting go of the warship's hull, the girl nodded slowly. Sokka relented; watching her work. Toph performed subtle motions with her arms. Then she sat back.

"I've punctured enough holes in all compartments below water," she whispered in a dead voice.

There were tears in her eyes. She didn't need to be taught how to cry.

Hyper-focused on his task, Sokka gestured toward the rest of the crew. The boy pointed at the next ship. Lanre and Olu nodded, working the sails. Sokka scrambled back to stern, taking control of the tiller, while pointing and gesturing orders. Their boat changed course, sailing toward another warship.

While the warship they were sailing away from, started sinking, slipping deeper into the depths of the Eastern Sea, taking its whole crew with it. Down, down to the very bottom.

With a dreadful feeling, Bato placed a gentle hand on Toph's shoulder, and rubbed soft circles into it. He hoped the gesture was comforting.

.

.

.

They had successfully sunk seven warships in the center of the fleet when one ship in the rear struck alarm. The rear warship had noticed something was wrong with the ships up in front, and sent out a distress signal. A signal to evacuate, abandon ship. Sokka and Bato shared a harrowed look. At least they hadn't been spotted yet. Grabbing his oar, Bato nudged Bjarni to do the same, and both started frantically rowing. In all the commotion, all the cries of drowning men around them, silence was no longer of essence. They made it to a Fire Navy ship, sailing close by, effectively hiding within its shadow.

Toph placed her hands on the hull. She listened. After a moment, she said: "Their Commander is in here, I recognize his voice."

"Well what are you waiting for?" Sokka exclaimed, wringing his hands.

"I'm halfway done," she quipped, some snark to her tone. "Just thought you should know. The Commander, he's in this one. Along with his elite firebending troops, all in one spot."

"Oh," said Sokka, falling back against the floorboards. "Good," he whispered, laying on his back, staring up at the night sky.

Just then, a head peeked over the railing of the Fire Navy ship.

Sokka's eyes went wide.

The Fire Navy man's jaw dropped when he saw them.

" _Water Tribe invaders!"_ the man cried a second later.

Sokka bolted upright. "Toph! Toph, are you done yet?"

"No, let me finish."

"Well how much longer do you need?"

More men appeared on deck above. Fingers pointed at their sailboat. Bato tightly gripped the spear strapped to his back. He threw it at their audience: a distraction. The Fire Navy men gasped and sprang back, no doubt thinking the Water Tribesmen were about to mount their ship. Their momentary confusion provided the distraction Toph needed to finish her job, but that was Bato's last spear. He had a dagger on him, and not much else.

It didn't take long before the elite firebenders were called on deck. Bjarni didn't need to be told to grab his oar and _row,_ row like his life depended on it.

Sokka steered their ship starboard and port, narrowly avoiding fireballs.

Flames danced across the water surface, riding on the waves.

"We're sinking!" someone cried out from the depths of that warship.

The firing ceased, as the firebenders on deck got busy readying the lifeboats.

"Sokka," said Bato sternly, "we need to head back to shore."

The teenager twisted his lip, frustration written clearly over his face. "One more ship."

" _Sokka,"_

"We can make it, I know we can!"

But their fellow Tribesman Lanre placed an admonishing hand on the boy's shoulder. His dreadlocks swayed, shining in the moonlight. The look in his eye was one of unquestionable authority.

"Steer her to shore, boy."

Sighing heavily, Sokka complied. Lanre took up the mainsail. Bato and Bjarni grabbed the oars, rowing with all their might. Olu handled the jib. Together they weaved a curvy path to the nearest shore, a shore remote from Chameleon Bay. This was what Chief Hakoda had intended by sending both kids away with Bato: to keep them out of the real battle, the one that would be waged on shore, once the remaining boats reached the mainland. And while Bato wished he could fight alongside Hakoda, watch over him, keep him safe, ...he knew the Chief had placed the life of his one and only son in Bato's hands.

The boy Bato had taken Ice Dodging. Bato did not have any children of his own, yet year by year, he was starting to think of Hakoda's kids as his own. So bitterly, Bato rowed on, hoping to at least bring his and Hakoda's boy to safety.

They didn't quite sail past the last Fire Navy ship when the first catapult fired. A great glowing boulder split the water, sending tidal waves their way.

Sokka shouted orders, putting his all into pushing the tiller. Lanre bit his lip, tugging at the mainsail. Bjarni and Bato rowed in perfect sync. Then the wave hit.

Nearly toppled their sailboat. Toph hung on for dear life. Another blast was fired. Sokka yelled. Olu switched the jib just in time, leading them down another path. They still got splattered by the wave, like it was raining. Bato was soaked to the bone. He kept rowing. Land was in sight.

In sight, but still quite far off. The catapult kept firing boulder after boulder. Their aim was getting better. Sokka's dodging was getting worse. The last blast grazed the hull of their ship. Bjarni grunted as his oar slipped from his hands, getting lost in the water.

"Fuck, I'm sorry!" the young man gasped.

"Don't worry," Lanre grunted, "shit happens."

Bato glanced over at the warship. They were readying the catapult for another fiery blast. Bato grimaced.

This wasn't going to work. Frowning, Bato pulled in his oar, laid it on the floorboards, and stood. On shaky legs he made his way over to the stern.

Sokka sent a questioning gaze at him when Bato grabbed hold of the tiller.

"I'll take it from here," he said, a forced smile slipping onto his lips with practiced ease.

Sokka frowned at him, but let him steer.

Bato shooed him away with a gesture of the hand. "Go. Take the girl and go."

Sokka tilted his head, raising an eyebrow. He did not understand, he was too young to understand.

Lanre grabbed the boy and shook him by his shoulders. "Abandon ship!" he yelled Sokka in the face.

"But, but....!" the teenager opened and shut his mouth like a fish, not making a sound.

"That is an order!" Lanre barked at the baffled teen who stood there, frozen in place. "You can swim. Help the girl to shore."

Realization dawned on Sokka's face as the firebenders on board the warship set flame to the boulder. A split-second he _stared_ into Bato's eyes, looking completely lost. Then he closed himself off emotionally, grabbed the girl by the waist, and jumped. Jumped into the swirling dark waters. Bato watched him swim away with a lighter heart. He knew his kids would make it. The Fire Navy catapult was targeting their sailboat. He just needed to steer them away from shore...

Bjarni had already jumped. They only needed three men to man the ship.

Lanre cracked a wild smile, looking over his shoulder at Bato. They made eye contact. Lanre grinned at him, then at Olu. Then he puffed up his chest and declared boldly:

"Let's show them how we do it on the South Pole!"

Olu laughed as the catapult was fired. The boulder came raining down on them, right on target.

"Water Tribe style!" Lanre howled out into the night.

There was a big crack as their floorboards shattered, damaging the hull. Then the jib caught flame. It burned a bright orange, tearing a giant hole in their sails. With an ear-splitting sound the bow broke off, and plunged into the water.


	5. Mindless Jasmine Tiles

"If everyone fought for their own convictions there would be no war." ~ Leo Tolstoy, War and Peace

* * *

Cold, that was all Toph registered. Cold and wet, like taking a bath with your clothes on. The fabric felt heavy around her shoulders, weighing her down. Still she was not afraid. She could sense Sokka's heartbeat, the structure of his bones. He held onto her shoulders, one elbow tucked under her armpit, as he swam with his free arm, keeping her head above water.

She did not know what had become of the rest of their crew. She'd heard voices, shouting, and then Sokka grabbed her and they _jumped._ There was a loud crash somewhere off not long after. The boat... that tiny Water Tribe fishing boat. Toph had crawled all over it, front to back; she knew its size. It wasn't big. If that crack came from a boulder hitting the boat, then the Fire Navy had been right on target.

Toph tried not to think of that. Soon enough, she could feel land beneath her feet: soft, muddy sand. It wasn't rock solid, but better than nothing. Toph sighed a breath of relief.

Sokka helped her onto shore till they were knee-deep in the water. She walked the rest of the way alone. It was still cold. She shivered. Her clothes were completely drenched. Her seismic vision was dulled by the sand, but she could sense Sokka standing by the water's edge, facing the sea. She was getting better at this, sandbending thing.

If he saw something on the water, he did not tell her.

He turned around, walked the few steps up shore, shivered, and said: "Come on, let's see if we can make a fire. We need to get you warmed up."

At the edge of the beach they found a small thicket of woods. Sokka gathered old twigs, while Toph located two spark rocks. She raised a large rock to shield them from the wind and whoever might see them from the water. They lit a campfire on the sand behind the rock, huddled around it.

Sokka rubbed his hands together, holding them close to his face.

"Penny for your thoughts," Toph said, wringing the front flap of her tunic.

Sokka removed his hands from his face, and sat up straighter, turning his head toward her. "You have coins?"

A laugh tore from Toph's throat. "We're Beifongs, we always have money."

He shook his head, not appreciating her humor from the tone of his voice. "I don't understand," he confessed. "Why?" he sounded anguished. "Why did Bato send me away? Was my steering that bad?"

"He wanted you to live."

Sokka looked at her. She couldn't read his expression. The silence felt uncomfortable. Without his voice or body language to go by, she had no way of telling how he felt about what she'd said. The fire crackled. Toph crept closer to it, feeling its warmth in her hand palms.

A hand on her upper chest held her back. "Don't get too close. You'll get burned."

He sounded preoccupied with heavy thoughts. Toph sighed, remembering. The giant metal ship underneath her fingertips. She hugged herself, fighting the painful feeling. The feeling that threatened to chill her to the bone. A frozen cloak, like a cold veil fell over her heart. They had drowned eight warships. Eight in total. The ships sank gradually, cos Toph had punctured many little holes. So some managed to survive, by evacuating before their ship went under, just as she and Sokka had.

But she knew there would be no lifeboats for the Earth Kingdom slaves who were aboard those warships.

* * *

Iroh loosened his belt and shed his long formal beizi, letting the jacket drop to the floor. The long green overcoat would only obstruct his movement. And he didn't have much use for it, with its hem pinned to the floor by a dagger. He narrowed his eyes, scanning the room.

His niece was distracted with the arrival of the waterbender. Zuko struggled to keep his footing amid the torrent of water. Now was the time to strike, if their target was the Princess. But Iroh was well aware of the other two fighters in the room. They could pose quite a threat if not taken out quickly.

Never underestimate a non-bender. Iroh had learned that lesson early into his military career, back when he'd been fool enough to challenge Piandao to a fight.

The chi blocker was bent over a dressing table. The knife thrower stood at a good angle to hit any spot in the room. But she was all out of knives, having wasted her last one on pinning Iroh's jacket to the floor. She was not a priority. Iroh directed his focus to the girl who could block chi pathways. She had to be taken out first. This girl had the power to suppress their bending completely, rendering them powerless. She was a very dangerous opponent.

Thinking fast, Iroh untied his belt, and fashioned the sash into a rope. He leapt toward the dressing table, taking her by surprise. Before she could kick him in the shin, one hand was on her wrist. His grip iron-tight. The belt sash snaked around her other wrist, tying her hands behind her back. He let the girl go. She was harmless like this. Could no longer use her chi-blocking abilities. Still she tried to wriggle her wrists free, only pulling the knot tighter. She spun around, aiming a mad spinning kick at his head.

Iroh ducked, employing negative jing. He was here to make sure Zuko didn't make any stupid mistakes, a mistake that could get the boy killed. His role here was purely to serve as bodyguard; he had no intention of hurting these girls, misguided as they were. In a way, they reminded him of himself when he was their age, from the time before he found the dragons. Before he learned what it truly meant to be a firebender. These days, it was a typical belief to share. That their Nation could do no wrong, that the Fire Lord was always right, no matter what. They weren't thinking for themselves, weren't measuring things up to their own moral compass. They were just mindless Jasmine tiles following orders without question, as they had been conditioned to. Iroh did not hate people who were forced into that role; he could only pity them.

The waterbender froze the other girl's arm in a solid shelf of ice, just as she was grabbing for a knife. Iroh sent a smile of thanks to Katara.

He then raised his hands in a defensive pose, ready to block any attack to his vital organs, as he stealthily approached Azula from a different angle.

The Princess was surrounded. From the front, Katara; from the side, Zuko; from the back, Iroh. Water spilled over the bed Princess Azula stood on, so she could not use her lightning without risking to electrocute herself. Her bodyguards had been subdued, they could no longer aid her in battle. It was over.

"Surrender," Iroh said, his tone of voice commanding. Sounding much like the General he used to be, back when his first born son Lu Ten was still alive. Back when he was juggling his loyalty to his Nation, his loyalty to his Father Azulon, and his loyalty to the Order of the White Lotus.

Azula whirled around, narrowing her eyes at him. Her hands were raised in a defensive pose of her own.

"What do you hope to achieve?" she asked him instead of lowering her defenses. "By doing this, betraying your own people. What is the point?" Azula quirked an eyebrow, a sly smirk on her full lips.

Lips that looked so much like Ursa's. Iroh had to shake his head for a moment, shake off the feeling. The Princess kept on talking, not having noticed his lapse of focus.

"Are you still so salty about my Father ascending the throne instead of you?" she grinned in victory, thinking she had hit a sore spot.

Iroh sighed. Weary-eyed, he shifted his hands imperceptibly, moving into a more offensive pose.

"Step _down_ Azula." It was Zuko who spoke up, tiny trigger-happy flames crackling on his fingertips, eager for the release. Too eager. "The Avatar will be here soon."

She smiled self-indulgently, turning toward him. "Oh, I'm _banking on it."_

"You are _outnumbered,"_ he continued talking. "You cannot win."

Azula did not move besides a subtle raise of her eyebrows. "Are you sure about that?"

As soon as those words left the Princess' lips, five Dai Li agents dropped down from the ceiling. Zuko's eyes went wide. They were surrounded.


	6. By The Sword

"It is not true that suffering ennobles the character; happiness does that sometimes, but suffering, for the most part, makes men petty and vindictive." ~ W. Somerset Maugham, The Moon and Sixpence

* * *

Zuko's Uncle struck first, breathing an arc of fire from his mouth, which forced the Dai Li back. Katara kept an eye on the Princess, but she made no moves. Standing passively on top of her bed with her hands raised in self defense: one hand covering her midsection, the other ready to ward off any blast to her face. Ty Lee and Mai were both out of the fight. Ty Lee's hands were securely tied behind her back, feet frozen to the floor in one corner of the room. Mai's arms were frozen to the wall in another corner of the room; she could only glare daggers at them, for she had none to throw.

Zuko shifted his stance so one hand pointed at his sister, the other at the Dai Li. His eyes kept flitting between Azula and the Dai Li agents. Katara could tell he was nervous. If Iroh felt any pressure, he did not show it. His eyes were narrowed, pinched to slits; Katara could not pinpoint where the old man was looking.

Stone gloves were flung at Iroh's hands.

Katara did not think. Her hand moved before her mind caught up, dissolving the gloves to mud. She blinked. When had she learned _that technique?_ Nevermind. One Dai Li agent kicked up a rock, knocking Zuko off his feet.

He rolled with it, sending circles of flame from his feet. Azula blocked his flames easily with a dismissive wave of her hand, coated in hot blue flame.

The Dai Li kept advancing, forcing the three of them closer to the Princess. Katara coated her arms with a protective layer of water. She lashed out, ridding the Dai Li of those silly conical hats. Her water washed those hats against the wall, their golden spikes clinking. She pulled the water back, holding it suspended in the air.

Just then Iroh's hands moved in arcs, crackling with lightning.

The Princess jerked her head his way. "Are you crazy?" she spat. "You're _standing_ in water, you fool!"

The Dai Li stood still, focused on the old man, waiting to see what he would pull. Zuko grabbed this moment to jump the Dai Li agent closest to him, firing a blast at the man's head. A flying side thrust kick. Without his hat, the Dai Li agent's head was exposed. He slipped out of the way, narrowly avoiding Zuko's attack. The tip of his braid caught fire.

Another agent snuffed it out with stony fingers. Zuko landed in a low crouch, in the middle of the group of Dai Li agents. They attacked; breaking a huge boulder off the ceiling and dropping that on top of him.

Katara used her suspended water to knock that boulder away. She panted, resting hands on her knees. Damn that boulder was heavy. Still crouched low, Zuko punched at the air around him, sending a flurry of fire blasts at the Earth Kingdom Traitors. They dodged Zuko's attack.

The one standing furthest away sunk through the floor. Katara frowned; what was up with _that?_ Was that man calling for reinforcements?

Meanwhile Iroh had dropped his pretense at lightningbending. He deepened his stance, and let a flare of fire escape his right fist. The flare grew in size till it morphed into a long fiery chain, or... a whip. A fire whip. Iroh swung his arm and lashed the fire whip at the Dai Li agents' feet. They jumped, seconds away from getting their feet scorched.

Azula scratched at her chin, observing the fight. "Hmm, not bad. Though Uncle's forms are certainly better than yours, Zuzu."

... _Zuzu?_ Katara quirked an eyebrow at the Princess. Why was she talking like that? They weren't in a dojo practicing forms. They were at war. Her casual tone seemed to suggest something else. Like this was all just a big game to her.

Though Zuko reacted badly to his sister's mocking words. He let out a snarl, and put more vigor into his punches. Almost like he lost all focus in his anger... A haze came over his eyes, one where he could only see his sister, could only punch faster and more furiously at the Dai Li. His aim was all off. He paid no heed to his surroundings. Like his mind was elsewhere, disengaged. Like he thought he was at target practice, attacking imaginary obstacles, one-upping his sister at bending, ...instead of hitting moving targets in an actual fight. Targets that could _and would_ hit back.

Katara gasped when she noticed that fifth Dai Li agent emerge from the floor... right behind Zuko.

 _"Zuko!"_ she shouted. " _Behind you."_

He did not react. He kept punching empty air, sending weak fireball after weaker fireball at the walls. The Dai Li agent hurled a rock into his side.

Zuko fell to the ground with a heart wrenching cry.

He lay on his side, curled to a ball, cradling his left arm.

Oh _no._ Was it broken?

Katara ran. She used all the water she had, rode it like a wave, floating over the Dai Li. She landed beside Zuko, stared at him in concern. Cloaking them both in a bubble of water, she crouched at his side, and placed one hand on his upper left arm. Her hand lit up. Blue whitish light glowed over his tricep.

It was bad. He'd already lost so much blood in his earlier fight with Mai. The flesh wounds had barely begun to heal, and he was already moving about, straining the tissue. And now his arm was strained. There was only so much Katara could do to patch him up in the limited time they had. Iroh couldn't hold off the Dai Li on his own for much longer.

Slowly Zuko came to, blinking up at her in mild bewilderment.

Katara cracked a smile. "Told you I have healing powers. You're the one who didn't believe me. I would have helped your uncle too, back in the ghost town, if you had let me."

He grunted, sitting up. "Can we leave the _'I told you so'_ s for later?"

"Sure," she snorted, breaking their water bubble open, and unleashing a torrent of water at the Dai Li.

Zuko crouched in a low fighting stance right behind her. They stood back to back, like one fighting unit. Despite never having practiced this before, the two of them fell in step quite naturally. Katara brought her water round in circles to defend. Zuko punched through the Dai Li's defenses to attack.

On the other side of the room, Iroh succeeded in burning one agent's feet. The man was on the ground, stroking his ankles with an expression of tortured pain on his face. He was out. Katara focused on the four that were left.

She parted the water into countless little raindrops, suspended in the air. Then, narrowing her eyes, she froze all drops to ice, and sent them flying at the Dai Li. One tiny ice shard hit an agent in the face, leaving a long bloody scratch down his cheek. _Good._

Zuko swung his leg out in a low sweeping kick, casting a wash of flames at their opponents. Katara used her water whip to slice through the boulder thrown at Zuko. A clean cut right through the center, making rocks skid away to the sides.

Katara smirked. "Why was I under the impression you were terrible at teamwork?"

With a grunt, Zuko stood. Standing upright, he was only about half a head taller than her. Katara frowned, pursing her lips. For some reason she'd always thought Zuko a lot taller than that... Maybe it was his Fire Navy outfit that made him appear larger than life.

He looked like any other boy without it.

"I've always fought alone," he said, hands at the ready to block an incoming attack. Firing two sharp blasts of orange flame, he managed to divert the stone's path. It crashed into the wall behind them.

Katara winced at the sound. "Well you don't have to," she said, making the water swirl erratically. "Not anymore." A smile played on her lips. "Who would have thought we actually work well together."

A strangled sound came from Zuko's throat. He put more oomph into his punches. The color of his flames shifted from a deep red-orange to a lighter yellow. One Dai Li agent howled out in pain, clasping his right shoulder, where Zuko's flame had struck.

Katara hummed. "That's another one down for the count. Three more to go."

" _Four,"_ said Zuko, leveling a steely-eyed stare at the Princess.

"Why is she not attacking?" Katara whispered close to Zuko's burned ear.

"She's biding her time," he grumbled.

Katara glanced around the room, noting the puddles of water here and there on the floor, the soaked carpet. An idea popped into her mind. With a vague smile on her lips, she elbowed Zuko in his side.

"Tell me something Zuko," she said in a low voice, "how well can you skate?"

"What?"

Katara grinned. Without another word she splashed the rest of the water onto the floor, and let it freeze.

She lunged forward, skimming over the ice. Maintaining perfect balance, she criss-crossed her arms and slashed the remaining Dai Li agents with water. Two of them avoided her attack, but lost their footing. Third guy got hit in the ribs. Zuko was not far behind her. With a swift kick to the man's shins, without even using his bending, Zuko brought the agent to his knees.

Iroh burned the hands of the remaining two Dai Li agents. They could no longer earthbend, overcome with pain.

Katara positively glowed. They had done it! Defeated all five Dai Li agents, just the three of them. She felt so happy she wanted to dance, wanted to hug someone. But when she turned towards Zuko, who smiled at her in soft wonder, the sound of hollow clapping made her turn.

Turning back toward the noise, Katara blinked. She stared, wide-eyed at the bed on which Princess Azula stood, smirking while giving them a slow sarcastic applause.

"Well done, Zuzu. Well done." The Princess fake-wiped tears away, smiling. "And here we all thought your firebending was a lost cause."

Zuko growled at her.

"You had us all fooled," Azula merrily chirped on, "everyone on Caldera Island. You were the talk of the town! I still don't get why you had to go and play pretend," she waved her hand around casually. "What you were hoping to achieve by groveling in the dirt at Father's feet?"

Katara frowned, not comprehending. What was Azula talking about? What did all of this mean? The room was filled with pained groans of the fallen Dai Li agents, who seemed to be paying them no mind. Iroh regarded Azula with a furious scowl. Zuko's eyes widened, and his lips parted with a look of stumped hurt on his face.

The Princess covered the left side of her face with a hand. "Or are you a glutton for punishment?"

In that moment, no breath left Katara's lungs. What? No, it couldn't be. She refused to believe that was true. She glanced back at Zuko, whose lower lip shook with barely repressed rage. The scorched side of his face shriveled up in anguish.

It couldn't be. Katara refused to believe. To believe the Fire Lord was capable of... of... had done _that_ to his own son. His own flesh and blood. A shaky breath escaped Katara's lips.

Azula drove the knife in deeper. "What do they call it," she tapped her fingers together. "Masochism!" she said, pointing at the ceiling and smiling brightly at her brother. "People who derive great pleasure from pain," she shrugged with a helpless smile at Katara. "They actively seek out situations that can easily be avoided. Circumstances where they will get hurt. They _know_ they will get hurt, yet they go ahead and do it anyway. Because they crave the physical torture it brings," she finished, giving Zuko a smoldering smile.

He lunged at her, fire bursting from his fists.

But the Princess saw him coming a mile off. She leapt up in the air, somersaulted over Katara's head, landed somewhere by the door, and stood. Dusted her long green skirt off, then looked over her shoulder.

"It's been nice," Azula said airily. "But I have matters to attend to." She tilted her head to one side, putting on a sweet sugary voice while puckering her lips coyly. "Zuzu, I hope we can meet again _soon._ You so _badly require_ lessons in advanced firebending. Don't worry Baby, next time Sister will totes teach you the advanced set."

Roaring with anger, Zuko jumped his sister with a roundhouse kick enveloped in flame. Katara _stared._ He wasn't himself, she realized. Azula's words really got to him, had struck a nerve.

How much of what Azula had said... was true? Had it really been their Father who burned Zuko's face off? But why?

Azula just laughed and disappeared into the hallway, not in the least bit intimidated by her brother's skill at bending. He made chase, punching fire while running and grunting furiously.

Katara set her jaw. Regardless of what had transpired between the siblings, she was here to fight Azula; to put an end to this half-baked _coup_ the Dai Li had staged. To put Azula off until Aang got here, which he surely would, Katara had no doubt about that. She knew Aang would save the city. He had to. And Katara believed. She believed in the Spirits, she believed in life, believed with all her heart in the Avatar. This was their destiny. And her part in fighting the war was to distract Azula until Aang got back. So she gathered enough water in her arms, and power-walked to the door, when five more Dai Li agents dropped down from the ceiling.

That made Katara pause. The new group of Dai Li stood between her and the door, blocking off the exit. She caught a glimpse of Zuko as he was running off.

Katara called after him.

" _Zuko!"_

But he was already out the door, racing down the hallway.

* * *

Sokka searched the shore for survivors. He peered out over the moonlit sea, trying to spot a drifting wooden board serving as makeshift raft, or a swimmer, anything. But he saw nothing. Ever since that explosion on the water, when Bato's cutter sailing ship just... collapsed to bits and pieces, Sokka lost sight of his men.

If Bjarni had made it safe to shore, Sokka and Toph hadn't run into him yet. They were on the move, warmed from the campfire, wide awake and driven by adrenaline. It was obvious they could not stay in one place for too long. Sokka spotted Fire Navy lifeboats out on the water. Some of those fuckers had survived. Sokka spat on the sand, continuing his trek back to Chameleon Bay. Toph walked beside him. They had to warn the others, and help in the fight. Sokka was _not_ sitting this one out, no matter how much Bato had wanted him to. He... he needed to tell Dad, what had happened to... Sokka bit his lip, forcing the tears back into his eyes. No, no, no, Bato was a good swimmer. He couldn't have... Just because Sokka hadn't seen him out on the water, didn't mean he hadn't... Sokka shook his head. Bato must have dived, to get away from the explosion. Yes, yes, he dived deep underwater. Olu and Lanre must have done the same. They were ok. Sokka would find them, after the battle. They would make it, they would make it.

Toph and Sokka walked faster. With some earthbending, they _could_ make it back to Chameleon Bay before the first Fire Navy warship arrived, but... It was too dangerous to do any serious earthbending on the beach. That would attract too much unwanted attention. And Toph had to conserve her energy. She'd already spent so much on metalbending those warships. She looked tired. So they just walked.

Sokka tried to avoid stepping on seashells, to make as little sound as possible. Thirty minutes passed before a small calloused hand pressed into his stomach. He held still, stopping dead in his tracks.

Then he heard voices.

A manly groan. "If Commander Ignaz expects us to follow him all the way to Ba Sing Se, he's stark raving mad."

Another voice, younger, deep, also male. "C'mon Captain Jee, you can't talk that way of our Commander," a gravelly chuckle. "He'll have your head."

"Hah! Let him _try._ I have a feeling our dear Commander won't make it to the East Lake, with how tough these Water Tribespeople are. Won't catch me charging into battle like a headless komodo chicken. Tell you what Lieutenant Kagari, I survived the Battle of the North Pole, and I will live past this. A wise man chooses his battles. This is not something we can win. Whatever dark magic these Water Tribespeople have on their side, it's heckin powerful, I tell ya."

"Yeah. Sunk most of our best ships, within minutes!" the younger man sounded frantic. "All that artillery, gone. All our ammuntion."

In the dark, Sokka's face lit up as he grinned mischievously. So they _had_ done some damage after all. Good to know. That's when something patted him on his stomach. He glanced down, then looked at Toph. She pointed to a sand track that led away from the beach. Sokka nodded grimly.

Toph led the way and Sokka followed, up the path, towards a thicket of trees by the cliffs, and further away from the voices, away from the rhythmic crash of waves upon the shore.

The two walked for hours. Daybreak was upon them before Sokka caught sight of a traditional light blue kierie. He ran to pick it up, then abruptly stopped. Sokka stared at the blunt weapon fashioned from polar bear femur so commonly used by the men of his Tribe. It was covered in blood.

Toph reached for the cudgel. She picked it up for him, held it out with the handle pointed his way. An impatient grumble left her tongue when he did not reach out to take it.

"What's the matter Tough Guy? Wanna fight the Fire Nazis with your bare hands?"

That's right. She couldn't see the blood.

Sokka swallowed down the lump that had formed in his throat, and placed his fingers around the weapon's hilt in a deadly grip.

"Let's go," he said. "Stick close to me."

Toph laughed. "Don't worry Snoozles," she spoke in a sing-song voice that sounded far too laid back for their present situation. There was an edge of humor to her tone. "I'll protect you."

Sokka trained his eyes straight ahead. His arm that held the kierie was slightly bent at the elbow, ready to strike. He listened closely for a sound, sniffed at the air for any foreign smell.

Then he smelled it. Sokka blinked, a slight smile of triumph on his lips. Skunk fish! That meant at least some of their tangle mines had been effective.

" _Eww,"_ Toph said, sticking her tongue out. She pinched her nose to avoid breathing in the foul air.

"And that's the power of stink," Sokka swung his free arm excitedly. He grinned, skipping ahead up a mound of rocks that flanked the coast.

Any moment now he would reach it, the battlefield. He would fight bravely and make Dad proud. Prove himself a warrior to the men of their Tribe. Sokka's heart pounded with anticipation as he reached the top of the mound. He looked over the edge of the highest rock. And regretted it the moment he laid eyes on what was left of Chameleon Bay.

The dopey smile washed off his face, to be replaced with a thick sense of dread. Smoke rose up from the battlefield, about fifty yards high. Down below, he could see people fighting. Some with fire, many without. Spears and cudgels and knives and battle axes. Swords and ji polearms and sai daggers and tiger head hooks and meteor hammers. Fire Navy uniforms, too many Fire Navy uniforms.

Amongst the fighters, he could spot a few men of his Tribe. Though the smoke made it difficult to see clearly, and he was still too far away. He heard Toph approach from behind. Her bare feet cautiously stepped on the next slippery rock, toes wrapping round craggy edge. Sokka scowled; he was being a baby! If Toph could do this, then so could he. With newfound fervor, he marched down the rocky hill, hopping onto the beach. He waited for Toph. When she was next to him, he strode over the hard side of the beach, crunching seashells under his boot. His face was drawn in a permanent scowl. He was angry. At the Fire Navy, at his own limited weapons, at himself.

For not being stronger, not being the strong manly Warrior he'd always wanted to be, not being capable of protecting his loved ones. He was mad at himself for not being a faster runner. Maybe then... he would have made it back in time. In time to warn Dad. That he had failed. He had failed to cancel those warships. His plan was shit. He hadn't protected anyone. He'd only been sent away, like last time... Back when the Warriors of his Tribe left, without him. Because he was just a kid.

It's why Chief Arnook took him off that mission to assassinate Zhao, why he had failed at simple guard duty, failed to protect Princess Yue. He was useless, utterly useless. He wasn't a bender like Katara. And his fighting skills were abysmal. He got beaten by a girl. _Twice!_ First by Suki and _then_ by that annoying girl from the Fire Nation. And none of them were even benders. They were just better at fighting. They weren't complete failures like Sokka. They actually got shit done. He could only whine like a baby and complain.

Sokka's lip trembled. He swallowed down boogers. No. No he would _not_ cry. Not here, not now. Not _this close_ to the battlefield.

The horrific smell of smoke filled his nose now; of rancid burning flesh. Sokka braced himself, taking a brave step forward.

Fear was not the mark of a coward, he reminded himself. It was natural to feel fear when in the presence of great danger. There was nothing courageous about not sensing the danger, in being fearless. That was merely short-sighted. And Sokka was not stupid. He understood quite well where he was, what he was about to do. He knew the consequences.

Being brave was about facing the danger, despite your fear. About mastering your emotions and choosing to fight. So that's what he did. For his people, for Dad, for Suki, for the refugees on the East Lake, for his pride.

"Sokka?"

He turned his head to look at Toph. She was plodding through the sand a ways behind him. Sokka frowned, observing the young girl more closely. Her clothes looked filthy, slightly frayed at the seams. Her hair was a mess, the headband askew. She was pale as a sheet of parchment. Sickly pale. But worst of all was the way she walked: upper body leaning forwards, arms hanging bonelessly to her knees. He saw her sway on her feet.

"I'm not feeling too well."

Sokka fixed the kierie to his belt, then ran over to Toph, steadying her with a hand on her shoulder.

"Come on," he said, casting one last look at the smoking battlefield. "Let's get you out of here."

No more girls would die on his watch. Sokka had made that promise. Toph simply nodded and let herself be led up a path that climbed the cliffs. Once they reached the top, Sokka could see the city of Ba Sing Se clearly in the distance. It was an easy walk from here; nothing but flat earth, give or take a few small hills.

Away from the fighting, away from the battlefield, Sokka finally felt the scent of the sea, the smell it was supposed to have. He let the cool sea breeze calm his mind. Soaking it in like nourishment. The sea reminded him of his home. Reminded him of what he was fighting for.

"Thank you."

Sokka twitched and turned upon hearing Toph's voice. They looked at each other. Or rather, Sokka looked at her. The color had returned to her cheeks. It seemed that the fresh air was doing her a lot of good. Her posture had improved and she seemed stronger, healthy.

"I feel better now," she said, nodding as if to emphasize her point.

Sokka squared his shoulders. "You're not going back there," he said in the final tone of a headmaster dealing with unruly students.

"But I..." she started to speak when Sokka cut her off.

"Toph you nearly _fainted_ out there!" he gestured wildly with his arms, hoping to get through to her.

"It was the smell," she said. Her tone annoyed. "And there was so much _noise._ So many people yelling and grunting and shouting. I couldn't tell what weapons were clashing. I can't see clearly in the sand!"

Sokka shrugged. "You also didn't sleep for a full day, _and_ you skipped dinner," he finished, narrowing his eyes and pointing a finger at her.

As if on cue, Toph's stomach growled.

"Yeah _well!"_

"No. Toph, for the last time, no! You're not going back there. I don't care if you feel better now. That smell won't go away. It's _there._ It will stay there. There's firebenders down there. Firebenders trained to fight earthbenders. You are better than this. You are the first metalbender this world has ever seen. Would you like to be the _last metalbender?"_

"But,"

"No butts, ands, or iffs!" Sokka crossed his arms in front of himself, then spread his arms with one wild move. "My decision is final. If you have that much energy, then please go to Ba Sing Se. Warn them! Tell them to send reinforcements," he said crossly. Then, his voice dropping to a fragile whisper, he confessed: "I'm counting on you."

"You aren't coming with me?" she sounded horrified.

He shrugged. "You travel faster without me."

Toph shook her head. "There has to be some other way."

Sokka took in a deep breath. "The men of my Tribe need me. And besides," he smiled, setting one hand on his hip, fingers brushing the hilt of his new kierie. "I am a decent fighter."

She chuckled. Good, this was good, at least he'd succeeded in lifting her spirits.

One small hand took his right hand, held it. Squeezed it. "Take care out there, Captain Boomerang."

Sokka smirked at the nickname. "Oh, I will. See you soon Toph!" With one last wave, he hastened down the path, back to the beach, back to the battle. This time, with a determined gleam in his eye. Sokka would show those Fire Nazi scum what a Warrior from the South Pole was made of.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Originally I planned on including Sokka's fight scene in this chapter, but the chapter was already getting so long with just the approach to the battlefield... And then I realized it makes more narrative sense to delay this fight scene until the next chapter, ;P so that's why you get this cliffhanger.
> 
> sorry not sorry
> 
> UwU


	7. Destiny

"It is not in the stars to hold our destiny but in ourselves." ~ unknown

* * *

"You're chasing after me, but what do you want?" Azula spoke in a far too calm voice for someone who'd been running up five flights of stairs, dodging fireballs.

She did not even sound out of breath.

Zuko panted, glaring at her. "Agni Kai. Here, now." He pointed at the stairs beneath his feet.

She leered at him from the top landing. Hands on her hips, head held high.

"It's too late for that Brother. No Agni Kai can fix the irreparable damage you've done to your Honor."

A growl escaped him. Zuko clenched his fists, feeling the fire roar inside.

"And besides," she tutted, examining her fingernails. "Think of what Mom would say if I hurt her favorite child."

Zuko saw red. "Don't you _dare_ bring Mom into this!" he pointed at her, sparks flickering at his fingertip.

Azula shrugged. "She was my mother too."

"Is," Zuko whispered in a harsh hiss, more to himself than to his sister. " _Is,_ not 'was'."

"Regardless, I'm not fighting you in an Agni Kai, Brother. I stand to gain nothing from that."

Zuko spread his arms wide, raised his eyebrows and showed his sister a smile that was all teeth. He let two fire whips grow out of his hands. "Scared?"

" _Please,"_ his sister rolled her eyes. "Like you could beat me with your mediocre firebending."

The fire whips were like his dual dao swords, an extension of his arms. With a whack of his left arm, he made a clean cut through the banister. Part of the top landing was also singed. Zuko drew his left arm back, snapping a fire whip at Azula's ankles with his right.

She diffused his flames with an effortless wave of the hand. And Zuko's right fire whip was cut short, missing its target by about two feet.

"Like I said," Azula went on. "We have nothing to divide." She spread her hands in a shrug. "You have nothing I want. Only reason I bothered looking for your sorry ass is Father asked me to. He wants to see you. For some reason. Don't ask me why, I don't know. He must have his reasons," she finished, narrowing her eyes crossly. Here she paused to smirk. "Though I doubt he intends to give you your title back."

Zuko swung his arms in a circular shape, making his fire whips hit the walls and ceiling. A glowing green crystal chandelier broke and fell. Azula dodged it at the last second, jumping further away from the stairs.

Pulling the fire whips back into his fists, Zuko ran up the last set of stairs. He leapt up in the air and aimed a flying side thrust kick at her exposed neck.

She sank through her knees, crouching low by the floor. Zuko flew over her. His kick connected with the wall. A fist of blue fire was aimed at his back.

He spun around, dispelling Azula's flame blast with one of his own: a palm strike from the elbow. Orange fire hit blue, and both evaporated. Blocking her attack filled him with a strange sense of pride. Zuko hardly remembered a time when he'd felt this way before. Like he actually succeeded at something he tried. The feeling was alien to him. He didn't feel like himself.

Before he could give his new skills much thought, Azula performed two front snap kicks in quick succession. When the heatwave hit him in the face, he realized there was no way he could block these. So he ran. Down the dark hallway, that ended in a plain wooden door. He tried it. Damn thing was locked. Zuko ran back a little, then kicked the door open. He squeezed his body through its shattered remains, considered the door frame, then lit the damn thing on fire.

Only then did he stop to consider his surroundings. He was on the roof of the palace, at night, standing on a narrow ledge above a one-hundred-and-twelve foot drop. At the end of this ledge, a small ladder led up to the roof's top. A pointy affair. Only the moonlight to guide him. Zuko gulped. The rooftop could be described as one long beam, that stretched out toward another wing of the palace.

Noises of some crashing behind him drew Zuko's attention, as Azula stepped through the smoldering mess of the roof hatch. With one hand raised, palm open, fingers pressed together, ready to strike. She wore a satisfied smile, and there was a mischievous glint in her eyes.

Zuko scowled. "So you're gonna _fight me_ now Azula?"

His sister's lips curled even more into a catlike expression. "I thought we were playing a game of tag," she said lightly. "Just like old times. You act like you can firebend, then run away screaming when you can't land a single hit. Only this time, there's no one you can run crying to. Uncle won't pull your pathetic ass out of the water. Father isn't here. Mom, ..." Azula spread her arms as if looking for something she had dropped on the ledge. She looked over at the dormer, at the broken roof hatch. Then she shrugged helplessly, and pinned him with a mocking smile. "Well, you know the drill."

In a mad hot rage, Zuko lashed out and punched a huge rolling yellow fireball at his sister's head.

She jumped. He blinked, not having seen that one coming. His fireball connected with the roof dormer, utterly destroying it. Zuko scrambled to get to the ladder, before the ledge collapsed under the dormer's weight and plummeted to the ground.

His feet were on the lowest rung of the ladder when the ledge finally gave way and broke off from the roof, landing on the ground with a clattering bang. Zuko hastily climbed up the ladder. He heaved a sigh, throwing his upper body over the roof beam.

That's when he spotted Azula, poised in a cat foot stance on the roof beam. Her feet skillfully balanced, eyes sharp. Hands curled into one-finger-strike form.

Zuko grabbed onto the highest rung of the ladder. He flexed his arm muscles, tensed. Then gradually, he lifted his feet off the ladder. Using all his upper body strength, taking deep calming breaths, he balanced his entire body weight on his arms. Raising his feet higher, till they were level with his head. His stomach muscles tensed, he held stiff as a board.

" _Wow,"_ Azula mockingly drawled. "You should join the Circus. I'm sure Ty Lee will put in a good word for you."

Zuko growled, using his anger to launch himself into a spin. His arms flexed, hands shifted on the rung to support his center of gravity. As he shot a wave of flame from his feet.

Azula actually had to step back. Still in the cat foot stance, but with her arms now raised defensively rather than offensively.

Zuko saw this as his chance. He pushed off the ladder rung, launching himself into the air, then landed in back stance on the roof beam. The two siblings faced each other. Zuko found himself surprised by the intensity in Azula's gaze.

"Why don't you call your traitor friends?" he said, edging closer to her, his hands raised defensively to shield his body from an attack. "Or have the Dai Li turned their back on you?"

"Oh," Azula waved a hand, " _traitors!"_ she said it like it was funny. Like he'd just told her some hilarious joke. "You and Uncle think too much in terms of Honor and Dignity. Those are strictly Fire Nation concepts. Earth Kingdom savages are not burdened by feelings of Shame and Dishonor. They wouldn't even know what those things mean."

Zuko narrowed his eyes. "You think you're _so smart,_ don't you. Even the late Admiral Zhao respected Uncle. And you would do good to respect him too. He was once a great General. Him being retired doesn't take away from that."

"Uncle tried to wage a war with as few casualties as possible; and look where it got him. His own son killed by the Earth Kingdom savages whose lives he tried to spare. Imagine losing your own son because of your bleeding heart. Father would never do that."

Zuko snorted. "Because Father never cared."

Azula narrowed her eyes in a scowl. "Oh, is that how you're playing it now? Selective memory? Tell me Zuzu, wasn't it Father who read you bedtime stories, who brought you hot soup when you were sick with a fever? No? Forgotten already? What about the many times Mother _and Father_ took us to Ember Island? The many times we played kuai ball together, as a family. Was it _that easy_ to forget?"

Zuko stilled. He remembered. He was back there, seven years old, in late summer, a week away from his eighth birthday. The warm sea breeze of Ember Island, sunlight in his back, looking out over the water. Father's hand on his shoulder. Father's encouraging words after the ball game...

" _You did well out there, Son. If you put as much effort into your firebending, I am certain you will grow to be a very powerful bender."_

Zuko's lower lip quivered. Those had been the memories he so desperately clung to during his three year exile, his journey all over the world. If only, if only things had gone differently. Had he been a bad son? Had his firebending progressed too slowly? On some days he wondered what could have been had he tried a little bit harder, had he put more effort into learning how to fight. He could have done more; he knew now, looking back. He had been a pampered good-for-nothing Prince, a spoilt child. Zuko winced. It was hard facing the truth.

"Well, as I was saying," Azula blew a strand of hair out of her face. "Uncle failed to take Ba Sing Se because he lacked the creativity needed to turn situations to his advantage and the insight needed to understand a people so different from his own. You and him both. You're both treating the Earth Kingdom as if it were a second Fire Nation, when it is not. The Earth Kingdom is not united under a single rule like our great Nation. They are undeveloped savages following feudal lords. They have no understanding of technology or science. They rely on their bending _for everything_ from transportation to agriculture."

"Is there a point to all this?" Zuko groaned. His sister's speeches were both aggravating in their length, and in the haughty condescension with which they were delivered.

Azula huffed. Then a triumphant smile grew on her lips. "There doesn't have to be a war in Ba Sing Se. Once the Fire Nation takes over, we will simply leave the city in the very capable hands of the Dai Li."

Zuko stared at his sister in horror. She grinned.

"The city will function just as any other Fire Nation colony," she said. "They will work for the greatness of our Nation, and we will trade them our superior technology. We will bring the light of civilization to this dark and empty desert depleted of know-how. They want this as much as we do. The Earth King is holding his own people back, not allowing society to progress. For centuries the people of Ba Sing Se have suffered under the oppressive rule of the Earth King and his armies. They want to be liberated. We will give that to them," she spread her arms, looking all the part the benevolent monarch.

"You're not getting rid of the Dai Li?"

She shrugged. "Of course the city can keep its cultural heritage. No one desires to break the structures that make this city function as a well oiled machine. For then it would be chaos. This is why I believe it is beneficial to keep the Dai Li in charge of this city. Who else knows better how to handle Earth Kingdom commoners than the earthbending savages themselves? At least the Dai Li seem intelligent enough to understand what's good for them." She studied her nails. "Once I eliminated their leader before their very eyes, they all fell in line."

"You did _what?"_ He couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"I killed him," Azula clarified. Cool, collected, looking Zuko directly in the eye like she was telling him about the weather.

Zuko's legs wobbled. He clamped his feet tighter around the roof beam to keep from falling off.

"Why are you telling me this?" he said to his sister.

She puckered her lips thoughtfully. Her head tilted to one side as she gave him one long critical look. "You have changed Zuko. There's no denying that."

He raised an eyebrow at her.

Pushing her chin forward she tilted her head back, so she was looking down on him. "Back then, Father said you needed to learn respect."

Zuko held in a breath.

"That suffering would be your teacher."

Zuko braced himself for an attack. Ready to block or leap out of the way.

"I think you have suffered enough."

Wait, _what?_ Zuko blinked at his sister in stilled surprise when no attack came. Azula offered him what might have passed for a friendly smile. It was certainly the friendliest smile he'd seen on her face in years... Reminded him of back when they were kids.

"Come on Zuzu, let's get off this roof," she rolled her eyes at him good-naturedly. "Your little tantrum has gone on long enough, don't you think. Father might not ever appoint you as Fire Lord, but we can work out a compromise. An arrangement you and I can both be happy with," she said, starting to walk down the slope of the roof, toward the hole where the roof dormer used to be.

Zuko frowned. He did not follow her. _She's trying to manipulate you,_ went through his head.

She stopped mid-way, looking at him expectantly and tapping her foot on the roof tiles. Her smile was turning uneasy. Signs of distress appeared on her face: the tightening of facial muscles, particularly around her mouth and nose. A spasm close to her right eye, a facial tic.

"What sort of arrangement?" Zuko demanded.

His sister looked elsewhere for a moment. When she looked back at him, her eyes zeroed in on his chest.

"We can work out the details later," she said coldly. Then, eyes turning up to lock with his, "Come on Zuko, we don't have time for this."

"Oh we had plenty of time for your lengthy speeches," he grumbled, "but we don't have time for you to tell me exactly what it is you're offering?"

Azula blinked at him, eyebrows raised. "You want me to say it?"

" _Yes!"_ he grabbed at nothing with his hands, beyond frustrated.

She looked shocked, and... a little bit ...was that _embarrassed?_ Zuko wasn't getting any of this.

"Like," Azula looked scandalized. " _Explicitly_ spell it out for you? I thought it was obvious. Even you would have caught on by now. You aren't _that_ dumb."

Zuko gritted his teeth. "You expect me to work with you, when all you do is insult me at every turn!"

" _You're_ making me say obscene things!" she responded with.

"You're not making _any sense!"_

"Fine," she huffed out an angry breath. "Suit yourself." Raising her arms in attack formation, she blasted him with a hot wave of blue fire.

Zuko ducked. He kept one foot on the roof beam, while hiding the rest of his body on the other side of the roof. Pain shot through his right leg as he dug his ankle into the beam to keep from slipping. Once the flames had passed over his head, he pushed himself up in a low crouched stance. His sister was gaining altitude, running up the roof. He still had the advantage, if only minimal. Using all his strength he swung his left leg over the beam, into the air.

He planted his right hand firmly on the beam for balance. And put all his hatred into the kick. White hot flame shot out from his foot. Zuko was almost frightened by the power of it.

He heard Azula grunt, and feared for the worst. The sound of her shoes scratching the roof tiles, too fast, sliding, slipping down, stopped the beat of his heart for a good second.

Then he saw her spear-hand slice through his white flames with a clean shot of sky blue. Zuko breathed a sigh of relief. He wasn't here to hurt his sister, not really. This was never about that. He just wanted... he wanted... to prove himself. To show he could hold his own against Azula. That she was no better than him. That he could beat a firebending prodigy through hard work and persistent effort alone. That he could win. That he... that he wasn't some pathetic excuse of a pampered Prince. He wanted... wanted to _show Dad,_ show the world, that he could be a very powerful bender if he put his mind to it.

Azula's face had contorted to an angry grimace. "Not bad Zuzu," she said, sounding pissed.

"Glad I did not disappoint," he threw back, shifting to a more stable stance on the roof beam.

She ran up faster this time, and made it to the beam. None of Zuko's yellow-flame closed-fist fire punches hit their target. He clicked his tongue, mad at himself. He had gotten too cocky, and now he paid the price for it. Azula took on the forward stance, and ran at him, circling her arms with wild blue flame.

Her hair wisps danced around her face, getting into her eyes.

Zuko waited. He waited till he could _feel_ the heatwave hit his face. Then he bent through his knees, clenched his muscles and pushed off the beam, launching himself into the air.

He somersaulted over his sister, then landed on the beam behind her in a kneeling pose. He glanced over his shoulder.

She pivoted, facing him in cat foot stance. One of her hands pointed up to the dark sky, the other was directed at the beam. The sly smile made a comeback.

"You've taken lessons from that Air Monk," she said. "When did you get _this evasive?"_ She spat the word out like it was the greatest insult she had ever thrown at him. Like a firebender was not supposed to evade.

He took it as a compliment. He rose to his feet, shifted into back stance. With his arms protecting his upper body, open hands. The edges of his hands sharp as blades, ready to strike. Giving her a sneaky smile of his own, he stretched his arm and beckoned her closer.

She huffed out a laugh. "This is going to be interesting." There was fire in her eyes, a determined gleam.

"Sure is," he said, pulling his hand back to his shoulder, then snapping it forward with a strike of yellowish white hot flame.

Azula dodged it by leaning to one side as she ran at him. This time she used her fire fists to propel herself forward. Zuko braced himself. He swung his left leg in a roundhouse kick, feeling the pain from where Mai's knife had struck. The wound Katara had not fully healed.

White yellow flames made Azula stop. Stop to block his attack. Zuko grinned; he had her on the defensive.

He followed his attack up by two side kicks in quick succession: a high side snap kick to put her off balance, and a side thrust kick at waist height to blow her away. Azula landed in a kneeling crouch, one hand blocking his flames.

Zuko stopped when he saw there were only inches between his sister and the end of the beam. One more push and she would fall off. It was a hundred-and-twelve foot drop. Zuko didn't want to take it that far. He took a step back, gave her some space. Allowed her to dust off her skirt, collect herself.

When Azula stood, she glared at him with intense hatred in her eyes. Zuko actually took a step back out of fear.

"What was _that?"_ she demanded.

He swallowed, not knowing what to say. Not entirely certain what she was asking.

"You had me _there,"_ she pointed angrily at the short space of beam behind her. "You could have finished me off. And _what?_ You just _...stopped attacking?_ Gave up? What was it, Zuko?"

He frowned, confused. His defensive arms lowering. "I'm not here to... _finish you off."_ The words sounded revolting to his ears. They made his stomach roil.

Azula let out a sharp angry laugh. "Oh! Sure you aren't. What did you think Agni Kais were for? For _fun?"_ She emphasized the word 'fun' with a bitter intensity.

"No, I... uhh..."

"Have you really thought about this? Have you thought this through Prince Zuko?"

Zuko shuddered at the mention of his old title, the one he had lost, the one he never deserved.

"You do realize that after this, win or lose, there's no way you're ever going to be welcomed back into our Nation as a Prince. You can forget about being Fire Lord. And you would have made a fine one too," she let her gaze trail over his body; and Zuko became all too aware that his gi was torn open, exposing his chest. Her eyes rested on his face again. "Do you really want to give it all up? For _this?_ Your insane quest to prove yourself in the eyes of others. When you and I have both known that it was always me. Even back when we were kids. We both knew you _never_ had it in you to be Fire Lord. You wouldn't make a good leader. You don't have the _balls_ to make the tough decisions. Take the tough calls, the issues and problems a Fire Lady _or Lord_ eats for breakfast. It was always going to be me. You were weaker and you knew it. My bending eclipsed yours even then. It was never a competition. I never saw you as my rival. You were always _weak._ So weak, Zuzu. And I would _never_ pick _a weak man_ for my rival."

He gulped, taking another step back as she took three steps forward.

"And _now,"_ she hissed at him. "Now that your bending has _finally_ risen a tidbit above mire mediocrity, you _refuse_ to strike me? You _dare_ pity me? You're _not_ coming at me with everything you've got?" she growled this time. "Is it because _I'm a girl?"_

"N-no!" he stammered out. "You're my sister, I..."

"And it's so very _brotherly_ to challenge your sister to an Agni Kai? Huh? Right after she offers you a truce."

Zuko had no words. He lowered his hands, lowered his head, feeling suddenly very ashamed of himself. In an odd way, Azula's cold anger cooled him down, made him think over things, see things more rationally. What was he doing? Why were they on this damned roof in the first place? He was so confused. Azula had lured him here, he remembered. This wasn't the best place for a duel, far from it. And his sister, ...she hadn't attacked him yet, not with intent to hurt. Quite actually, Azula had attempted to talk him out of fighting. To defuse the situation. And he had not listened.

"You owe it to me to at least try," Azula's sharp voice cut through his cloudy thoughts.

He looked up, facing her.

"Fight me like a man, Prince Zuko." Her eyes were narrowed to slits. "When you lose, I promise to spare your life. My offer of an alliance is still on the table." She lifted then dropped one shoulder in a half shrug, her other arm poised to ward off an attack. "Who knows... If I like the way you spar tonight, I might even appoint you as my personal guard. I am _considering_ it."

Zuko shook his head, sinking into forward stance, his arms protectively raised. "I'm not going back to the Fire Nation."

"You _are."_

"No!" he responded, voice growing louder with frustration. "I have a _life_ here now, in the Earth Kingdom. I have _nothing_ to go back to. Nobody is waiting for me in the Fire Nation."

Azula snorted. "What did you do Zuzu? Got yourself a girl? Here in Ba Sing Se," she gestured around, at the cornucopia of houses built into every crevice of the city walls, on each free surface; the anthill. "I bet you had to _lie_ to get her to go out with you. D'you think she'd even want you when she finds out who you are?"

Zuko shook with barely contained rage. "You don't know _a thing_ about her!"

Or at least he hoped she didn't.

His sister's eyebrows went up in mild surprise. "She's got to be _real pretty_ for you to get so heated over her. A fetching thing," Azula pouted playfully. Then she winked. "Prettier than me?"

"Jin is pretty on the inside, _unlike_ you," he spat the words out, cruelly and hatefully.

But his words had the opposite effect from the one he'd intended. Azula threw her head back and _laughed._ Laughed heartily at him, genuine tears of laughter appearing at the corners of her eyes. She spoke her next words in a light, unaffected voice.

"Are _those_ the words Uncle used on you to make you feel better?" she giggled, voice dropping theatrically low, to sound like a cruel parody of their uncle. " _Prince Zuko, my nephew, don't worry my boy. Half of your face might of been burned off,"_ here she raised a shaky finger to the sky, and swaggered a little on her feet, a poor impersonation of Uncle's mannerisms.

Zuko felt his blood boil.

His sister batted her eyelashes at him innocently, saying in a mockery of Uncle's voice: " _But you're still pretty on the inside."_

With a roar Zuko launched himself at his sister, shooting white hot flame from his fists. The flames turned a pale blue close to his knuckles.

Azula roundhouse kicked his hands away, burning his arms.

With a wheeze Zuko pulled back, cradling his hands to his chest.

"Not bad," Azula clicked her tongue, face neutral as she nodded calmly. "I knew you had it in you to bend blue fire."

Zuko forced his eyes open in spite of the searing pain in his arms. He put all his hatred into the glare he sent his sister. How could she be _so calm_ at a time like this? Did she truly feel _nothing at all?_ Was her anger all for show? An act? Her shouting at him earlier? Just a _piece of theatre_ to manipulate him with? He certainly fell for it. Hook, line, and sinker.

"I knew you could, but still. It's a miracle you can firebend at all. In fact you were lucky to be born."

Zuko grit his teeth. Azula just kept on talking. Like she hadn't noticed the deepening scowl on her brother's face, or didn't care.

"The Spirits really smiled on you, Brother. Father says there was a high chance you wouldn't live longer than the week. There were no visible deformities," she shrugged. "But no one could ascertain the damage to your mind."

"Shut _up!"_ He flung himself at her, leading with his shoulder.

His sister stepped out of the way, deftly dodging him. Zuko stopped in his tracks when he was three feet away from the edge. Now their positions on the roof beam had reversed. He glanced over his shoulder. Azula smirked at him. Zuko whirled around to block a flying front snap kick of blue fire.

He winced. His arms ached. The burns were red hot and angry, running all around his wrists and a little up his arms, to his elbows. Using his arms again to block Azula's flying kick hurt more than he could describe in words. He howled out in pain when it was over, clutching his left wrist. Rubbing it, sending soothing warmth into his tendons underneath the burned skin.

Azula shook her head sadly. "Father shouldn't have had _that much_ soju to drink on Korochun Day seventeen years ago. He still regrets it."

" _What?"_

She sent him a pitying look. "Father was flat out drunk on the night you were conceived."

Zuko let go of his wrist, both arms dropping to his sides. He gaped at her.

"Who knows Zuzu," Azula shrugged again, tilting her head while looking him over languidly. "You might have been taller if Father laid off the bottle."

Anger roiled in his stomach. "I _am_ tall!" he yelled without thinking, fists clenching at his sides, barely aware of his pain in the heat of the moment. "I'm _still growing!"_

"Ouch," his sister said humorously. "Sorry," she uttered without sounding the tiniest bit sorry. "Didn't realize _your height_ was such a touchy subject. Again, I am _so sorry Prince Zuko._ If it's any consolation, at least you're a _teensy bit_ taller than our esteemed darling Uncle Iroh."

No. Zuko grimaced as his face tightened in anger. No, no, no, no, _no!_ He could not let her get to him. She was doing this on purpose. Saying all these things. Just to rile him up, to distract him. Zuko shook his head. He refused to listen to a word his sister said. He blocked out her voice. Azula's words dripping in poison, filled with lies.

He couldn't believe them. _Shouldn't_ trust a word that came out of that mouth.

Pushing past the pain in his stinging arms, he righted his stance. Knees sinking, feet clawing around the roof beam. Arms raised to protect his mid-section, protect his face. She could burn his arms all she wanted. Zuko would _not_ let his sister leave a mark on his face.

Having noticed her words had no effect on him, Azula attacked. Sending wash of blue flame after blue flame. Zuko defended as well as he could. Throwing up flame barriers. His fire burned a hot yellow. Once, twice a halo of white appeared in his flames. The lick of pale blue fire did not make a comeback.

He was doing all he could, all he had trained to do. But still she kept pushing and Zuko kept being pushed closer to the roof's edge. He sank through his knees, put most of his weight into his front leg, shifting into front stance, hoping to stop from sliding backwards. Yet another kick from Azula forced him to retreat, right arm raised defensively. He was just one foot away from where the rooftop ended.

"Last chance," Azula spat. "Unlike Grandfather, I am a reasonable ruler. I can be persuaded to change my mind. Show my wayward brother some kindness. But even that has its limits."

"What are you even _talking_ about?" he yelled at her, thrusting his left arm forward with a yellow flame spear-hand.

She dispelled his fire with a circular motion of her right arm. An easy block. One technique from the basic set. He scowled, angry at himself for having been blocked that easy.

"I see you haven't been paying attention," she said in a cold voice. "I give you _one last chance_ Brother. Join me in fighting the Avatar. Ba Sing Se will be _ours._ It already is. Getting the papers signed is just a formality."

He choked on a breath.

"Father told you not to come home without the Avatar. Well, what if the Avatar were to... die?"

Zuko shook his head. "Killing the Avatar will accomplish nothing. He will simply be reborn to a family in the Water Tribes," he said bitterly. "And seeing as all the men are gone from the South Pole, it's going to be the Northern Water Tribe. You know, the one Zhao's whole fleet _could not invade?"_ He shook his head. "It's why Zhao wanted to keep the Avatar locked up for the rest of his life, when _he_ captured him."

At this his sister simply smiled. Zuko frowned at her.

"What?" he said, feeling frustrated. "The Avatar will simply reincarnate if you kill him. And yeah, maybe that will delay their uprising for a while, until the Avatar grows old enough to learn all forms of bending. But some day you'll have a whole _new_ Avatar to deal with, one you know nothing about. The Northern Water Tribe is not going to give up. I've seen them fight. They're terrifying."

Azula pursed her lip in distaste. "Perhaps you and your Admiral Zhao were frightened by the Northern Water Tribe. I am not."

"He's _not_ 'my Admiral Zhao'! I hated that man. He tried to have me _killed!"_

"Fine, whatever." Azula twirled her hand in the air. "Regardless of your _'feelings'_ , I have it on good authority that the Avatar _can_ be killed. Permanently."

Zuko frowned. Abhorrence and curiosity spiralled within his heart at a maddening pace.

" _How?"_ he finally made himself say, dreading the answer.

Azula smirked with glee. Zuko gulped.

"I heard it from the Fire Sages themselves," she said, smiling brightly. "If he is killed in the Avatar State, the Avatar will cease to exist."

Oh no.

"So what we do is lure him in using our hostages: the Avatar seems particularly taken with that waterbender. Then goad him into entering the Avatar State, a form he has not truly mastered yet. You do that. You're good at doing that, pressuring people into fighting you. And then _I_ jump him from behind. While you distract the Avatar with your circus act, I go in for the kill."

His heart nearly stopped at the malicious look in her eyes.

"But, but the Avatar..." he shut his mouth, not knowing how to put this.

"What about him?" she snapped in a tone that said _speak up._

"We need him. Without the Avatar, without the human embodiment of our planet, there won't be any bending. If you take out the Avatar for good, none of us will ever firebend again. You want _that?_ Life without bending?"

She threw her head back and laughed. "You don't actually believe that."

"It doesn't matter what I believe," Zuko shrugged. "These are the facts, whether we choose to believe them or not."

" _Oh to Orko, Rho and Pel!"_ Azula rolled her eyes. "Has Uncle completely brainwashed you? You never believed in Spirits before. And that _myth_ about the Avatar being the bridge between our world and the Spirit World is obviously hogwash. You listening to Earth Kingdom propaganda? They obviously spread all of those _lies_ to stop us from winning the war. The Avatar is their superweapon. They will stop at _nothing_ to use him to _destroy_ us all."

Zuko sighed. He didn't know how to respond to any of that. In a way, his sister was right. And in a way, she _wasn't._ He felt conflicted over helping the Avatar. It seemed wrong, somehow. No matter how adamantly Katara had tried to sway him over to her side. With all things that happened, with what he'd seen Aang do in the Avatar State... the destructive nature of it was not lost on Zuko.

But at the same time...

"I'm sorry Azula. I can't help you kill the Avatar."

His sister tilted her head back, appraising him. "Oh come now, you're not that awful at firebending. You were even able to hold your own against me."

He blinked at her, not getting what she was saying. Until it hit him like a ton of bricks. Zuko stared, seeing his little sister in a whole new light... She thought he lacked _the skill_ to do it, not the desire.

Zuko frowned, speaking more firmly this time. "Azula I am _not_ helping you kill the Avatar. This world needs the Avatar, whether you like it or not. Our Nation needs the Avatar. Without him, our bending tradition would vanish. When Zhao killed the Moon Spirit, he ended waterbending. What do you think will happen when you end the Avatar cycle? _All bending_ on earth will be lost. For good."

The Princess flexed her neck, looking like a hungry mongoose lizard.

"How very unfortunate that you feel that way," she stated, her voice sounding cold as ice.

Zuko instinctively took a step back. Then he remembered he'd been only one foot away from the edge. Now only inches were left between him and the spot where the roof abruptly ended, with no slope, no trees, no balconies, nothing to break his fall. Nothing to grab onto, just a clean one-hundred-and-twelve foot drop.

Azula smirked. Her eyes were stone cold. Zuko stared back at her. She wouldn't... _no,_ she _wouldn't!_

But the thoughts rang hollow to his ears. Hopeful, naive, desperate.

She _so_ totally would.

A _zula always lies, Azula always lies, Azula always..._

Her right hand pulled into one-finger-strike form, flexing at the wrist. Then Zuko watched her make the shape... round and precise and exactly like Uncle had shown him two months ago. Lightning.

Princess Azula raised her eyebrows, her lips drawn in a straight line. Cold detached efficiency; there was no emotion in her face, only calculation. She watched him breathe for a minute, the lightning crackling on her fingertip.

"Say hi to Mom for me," she said as she struck.

* * *

A Water Tribesman defended himself against two shorter men in Fire Navy uniforms. He held his spear out in front his body, as a shield against a double edged straight sword. The second Fire Navy soldier attacked him _from behind,_ swinging at his back with a meteor hammer. The two weights connected by a metal chain were set on fire: two spinning metal balls, bathed in flame. Sokka's breath caught in his throat; he swallowed, hard. His throat was dry and his legs were not moving. His entire body was telling him to go back, make a run for it while he still could. Before they noticed him hiding in the shadows of a cracked boulder. It took all his strength to take one step forward.

Those weapons, the spinning metal spheres, the meteor hammer... looked exactly like... exactly like... Like a miniature version of Sozin's comet. Sokka shuddered. He made himself reach behind his left shoulder, grab his boomerang. He lay low, watched.

The Water Tribesman spun around and jabbed his spear at the man with the meteor hammer, hitting him in the thigh. This Fire Navy man recovered _fast,_ throwing one of those meteors at the Tribesman's head. At the last second, the Tribesman dodged. Moving like the ocean, fluid and powerful. He turned and blocked another attack from the man with the jian straight sword.

The meteor hammer missed. Sokka narrowed his eyes at the man wielding this weapon. He studied his posture, the position of his arms and legs, his torso, center of gravity, the way he moved: big, bulky, confident steps, mostly along straight lines. No dodging, no circling, no weaving. Sokka observed the man in action, how he handled his weapon, the tiny tremors in his arms and upper body before striking: the _'tells'._ From all this, Sokka concluded the man must not be an experienced fighter. Perhaps this was his first time on the battlefield, facing real opponents other than dummies or sparring partners who went easy on him. He was not disguising his movements. He did not do any feints. His next attack was hopelessly predictable.

The man's shoulders shook a little before his arm moved with the metal chain. Sokka measured the angle, calculated the trajectory. Then he tossed his boomerang.

"Not very fair, is it?" said Sokka, jumping into the fray and immediately drawing attention to himself. Good, this was good. His talk would be the perfect distraction. "You guys ganging up on him, two against one."

The swordsman growled, raising his jian and turning towards Sokka. His fellow Tribesman frowned, taking in Sokka's form while keeping a vigilant eye on their two opponents, his spear raised defensively. A flicker of recognition crossed the Tribesman's eyes. He must have recognized Sokka as their Chief's son, though they did not know each other by name.

Sokka smirked, growing more confident. If only he could keep these Fire Navy soldiers distracted a little while longer. "I'm here to level the playing field," he announced in simple Calderan, to make absolutely certain these monsters would understand.

The meteor wielder snarled and aimed one of those flaming orbs right at Sokka, ...just as planned. The Water Tribesman flung his spear at the man, grazing his side. And Sokka's boomerang flashed in the sky.

With a precisely timed _jump_ Sokka launched himself at the swordsman, bashing the man's helmet with his knobkerrie. " _That's_ for the Southern Water Tribe!" he yelled as his cudgel made impact with the swordsman's head.

At the very same moment Sokka's boomerang nicked the meteor wielder in the right elbow. That man howled and let go of the metal chain. The burning meteors flew through the air before plunging into the water and sinking down to the bottom of the sea. The Water Tribesman pulled a machete on the disarmed meteor wielder, who took on a firebending stance, arms defensively raised.

The swordsman staggered backwards, tripped over a jagged rock and fell on his back. Sokka landed on top of him, knees digging into the man's shoulder pads. The soldier was out cold. Sokka yanked down the skull mask. He paused. The sleeping face in front of him looked young. A little too young. Did this guy even shave? Sokka traced three fingers over the man's jaw. No stubble. He blinked. This was no man, this was a boy. But what was _a boy_ doing on the battlefield?

Behind him, intense fighting was going on. Sokka glanced over his shoulder. He did a double take. The other Fire Navy soldier, the one who'd had the meteor hammer, that man was a firebender. Sokka gulped. No wonder his chain dart had been bathed in flame.

The Water Tribesman dodged and pivoted, avoiding fire blasts. Sokka stood; he _had to_ help out somehow. His boomerang lay in the sand, ten feet away. Sokka frowned. Then he ran. Raising the kierie above his head, he swung it at the firebender's left side, aiming for that spot just below the man's armpit. A battle cry left Sokka's lips as his knobkerrie connected with the soldier's chain mail armor.

The soldier grunted, briefly immobilized.

At this moment the Water Tribesman stuck his machete in the soldier's right leg. The Fire Navy man gasped. Sokka shuddered, eyes turning wide. He watched his fellow Tribesman pull the knife out, then stab him _again_ in the gut. The Fire Navy man cried out like a girl. Blood shot out of the wound like a geyser.

Sokka's grip on his cudgel weakened. He took a step back, another step away from the carnage. As his fellow Tribesman stabbed the firebender again and again, till the body was nothing more than a bleeding corpse.

Panting, the Water Tribesman stood, hovering over the soldier's dead body. He wiped his machete clean on the dead man's shoulder pads. Sheathed his weapon, let out a heavy sigh, reached over to pick up the fallen boomerang, then turned to Sokka.

"Thanks buddy," the guy said in a gruff manly voice. "If you hadn't shown up when you did, I would have been done for." A grim but friendly smile stained his face. He held out the boomerang for Sokka to take.

Sokka simply stared at him.

"What?" the Tribesman raised an eyebrow, nodding over toward the dead body. "We had to kill him. That man was a firebender," he said, kicking at the dead man's legs. "He would have killed us all."

In a daze Sokka took his boomerang, cradled it to his chest. With pained eyes he looked over at the other Fire Navy soldier who lay on the ground unconscious, still very much alive. Sokka glanced back to his fellow Tribesman.

"Are you going to do it?" the man said calmly.

Sokka pursed his lip. Reluctance and doubt swirled inside his mind; were they doing the right thing? This boy was not even a bender. And he was so young. No doubt he had been roped into this, been sent off to fight in the war. This kid was only following orders. Did he really... really deserve to die?

"Because if you aren't going to do it," the Tribesman approached the knocked out soldier, drawing his machete.

" _No!"_ Sokka lurched forward, bodily placing himself between the fallen Fire Navy soldier and the man of his own Tribe. He spread his arms wide. "It's okay. _I'll_ do it."

The Water Tribesman shrugged. "Good. But make it quick."

That was exactly what Sokka had in mind: a quick and painless death. This kid did not deserve to go through more pain and suffering. At least in death, his soul could finally be at peace. Maybe he would luck out and reincarnate into a nonbender of the Northern Water Tribe, or the youngest member of a wealthy family living within the walls of Ba Sing Se. Then he would never have to see the war again. Those two cities were the best protected places on earth, the most safe.

Sokka knelt down beside the boy's head. He would at least take off the helmet. He figured that was both practical, he could use a helmet, _and_ the honorable thing to do. Look your enemy in the face when you bring them to the other world.

He undid the straps, took the helmet off. Set it down on the ground beside them. Only _then_ did he make himself look at the boy he whose life he was about to end. For the best part of a minute Sokka stopped breathing. The boy's black hair was held back by pins, keeping his bangs out of his face. His hair was collected into a high braid instead of a topknot. A long black braid decorated with a golden ribbon. Sokka sat back in shock, wondering how he could have missed it. This boy was not a boy at all. It was a young woman.

"Cheap fucking bastards," the Water Tribesman grumbled. "They make their women fight for them."

Sokka shook his head, furious with himself and what he was about to do. What he _had to_ do. He looked away from the Fire Navy woman's unconscious body. He stared out at the sea. Collected himself, then, in a calm tone he spoke:

"She's still a warrior. I have to do this. I have to end her life or she will end mine."

"What do you mean?" the Water Tribesman sounded alarmed.

Sokka tilted his head up, looked him dead in the eye. "This woman is a warrior. She will not hesitate to kill us both if she wakes up."

The Tribesman looked scandalized. "You _can't_ mean!"

Sokka glared at him. "Weren't _you_ the one telling me to _kill her_ a moment earlier?"

"Yeah, but I didn't know..."

" _How_ would you _have known?_ Did you stop and _check?"_ Sokka gestured at the corpse. "Before you _stabbed_ that soldier _to death?_ Maybe _that_ is a woman."

The Tribesman's face went very pale.

"Besides," Sokka softened his voice. "It doesn't matter whether she's a woman or not. She attacked us. She's with the Fire Nation. I thought she was a lot younger than me, but she's not. She can't grow a beard cause she's a woman. Looking at her now, I'd say she's about twenty years old. She knows what she's doing. She came here to kill people, to bring pain and destruction to a peaceful part of the Earth Kingdom."

"But,"

"But what? Women can't be warriors?" Sokka raised an eyebrow. "How did _she_ attack us _then?_ She was going _to kill you,_ before I showed up and saved your ass."

" _Hey!"_

"Don't _'Hey'_ me, it's the _truth._ You said it yourself. I can't hold back on her just cause she's a woman. That will get us both _killed."_

The Tribesman swallowed. He turned his eyes away. "Ok," he said, "ok. But do it with this."

Without looking in Sokka's direction, he handed him his machete.

Sokka took it. He undid the ties of the Fire Navy soldier's uniform, removed the breastplate.

"You know this is very cowardly of you," he said, pressing the blade into the cloth right below the soldier's left breast, where he could feel a heartbeat. "Making _me_ do this," said Sokka as the Fire Navy soldier's uniform stained dark with blood. "What are you, thirty? Forty years old?" He looked his fellow Tribesman up and down. "What's your name anyway?"

The man sighed, sitting down on a rock next to Sokka.

"I'm twenty-five," he said.

Sokka groaned. "What, do I call you _Twenty Five_ from now on?" He forced the knife deeper into the woman's chest, making her bleed out faster.

Another sigh. "It's Pui En. My name," the Tribesman shrugged, "is Pui En."

"Well Pui En, we're in this together. You can call me Sokka."

There was some hesitation in the Tribesman's voice as he tried Sokka's name on his tongue. "...Sokka, you're the Chief's son, right?"

"Yes," Sokka flashed him a look. "Can you tell me where he is? My dad..."

Pui En got up. "Come on, that's enough now." He nodded at the Fire Navy soldier. The soldier who was no longer breathing. "Let's get going. I don't know where the Chief is: we got separated early on in the fight, but there's men who need our help."

Sokka stilled, the machete shaking in his hands.

He felt a strong hand on his shoulder, grounding him. "It's okay. I'm sorry. It was wrong of me to make you do this. Here," the machete was gently taken from his shaky blood stained fingers, "wipe your hands clean."

A dark grey rag covered Sokka's hands. His eyes widened; tears pricked at the corners. He fisted his hands in the cloth, lips trembling.

"I... I _killed_ her..." Sokka gasped, shocked at what his very own hands had done.

Pui En's hand rubbed soothing circles into his shoulder, then moved to pat him on the back. "That's part of being a Warrior. We're forced to see the ugly side of war, to confront it. You're a brave man, Sokka. You've made it this far. Not many men can say the same."

Sokka shut his eyes. He stood, turned away from the corpse, then opened his eyes facing the battlefield. Stone faced he stared into the smoke.

"I'm coming for you Dad."


	8. The Battle Lost and Won

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> getting into the final stretch of this battle! :D
> 
> (i was so excited to write these battle scenes). not sure if i did them justice, but alright. some of the scenes in this chapter were what got me excited about writing this story in the first place. You know there's always these scenes, the 'defining moments' of the story, and everything leads up to it. And you kind of hate to write the buildup scenes because //you want to get to THIS scene// but you can't, cause you've got to lay the ground work first.
> 
> :D so it's fun to finally get to write the scenes you wanted to write all along
> 
> (tho be warned: there's DEATH in this chapter. so it aint all happy. [sorry, that just doesn't sit right with /a war/, where the Avatar story takes place. also a lighthearted ending would not do Book 2 Earth justice. since that Book gets pretty dark, especially in Ba Sing Se, with the Dai Li.....  
> ....ive recently rewatched those episodes, and oof //scary// mind control stuff....sweet Jesus.
> 
> anyways have fun reading and feel free to share your thoughts/feelings.  
> Also if there's anything you don't like about the writing, tell me. Some of this is kinda hot-off-the-press unedited stuff, so yeah XD ....probably could use some editing. kinda. maybe. (i was rushing to get this out/published faster).  
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"War does not determine who is right, only who is left." ~ unknown

* * *

Sokka did not know how many men he had bashed with his cudgel. He had stopped counting. The battlefield was a writhing mess of bodies, flame and smoke. Only the desire to see his father again made him push on.

When Pui En fell to his knees, knocked over by a polearm, Sokka flung his boomerang at the Fire Navy man responsible. His trusty boomerang knocked the man's visor askew. Sokka used this moment to get in close, then rammed his kierie into the soldier's stomach.

The soldier lost his balance and fell back on the sand. Sokka fell with him. A struggle of limbs followed. He was lucky this man was no bender. Eventually Sokka pulled the ji polearm out of the soldier's hands. He got to his feet, loomed over the Fire Nazi, hefted the polearm, and drove it through the man's right thigh. The soldier still wriggled, tried to get the polearm out of him. It was a pitiful sight. Sokka winced, then reminded himself these men were a lot older. They had chosen this life for themselves, the life of a soldier in the Fire Navy. They were nothing like him and his people: who were fighting to protect their loved ones, defend their own land. No, these Fire Navy soldiers had come here to take lives, to invade and steal what wasn't theirs. Should've just stayed in their Fire Nation, where these people belong. Sokka shook his head, bent over the man and lifted his helmet.

Huh. So it really _was_ a man this time. An old one too: grey hairs sprouting from his skull. Fucker lived long enough already. Sokka kicked him in the head for good measure, then took the man's ji polearm: it could come in handy later. Blood splattered violently as the weapon was removed. Sokka wiped the polearm's blade on the man's dark grey breeches.

Pui En recovered, crawled over the dirty sand, and retrieved Sokka's boomerang for him.

Sokka placed the Fire Navy helmet on Pui En's head. "Can you walk?"

His battle buddy leaned on him for support, then slowly struggled to his feet. Pui En smiled. There was pain in his eyes.

"I can try," he gurgled. "The cut is not that deep."

Sokka nodded grimly. They pushed on, sticking close together, marching side by side. With each step Pui En's condition worsened. Sokka kept shooting him worried glances, but there was not much he knew how to do... He could clean a wound, but they hardly had any clean water at hand. Beyond _that,_ Sokka was pretty much a zero. When it came to first aid, he had absolutely no idea what to do, where to even start. With a heavy exhale he admitted he had relied too much on his little sister. Katara knew how to heal people. And Sokka... he had never bothered _to learn._

They climbed up a rough incline: a dune covered with bleeding bodies. Mostly Fire Navy, though Sokka spotted some of his own men here and there. He winced. The faces looked familiar. He regretted not having known their names.

At the top of the hill Pui En's legs gave out. He sank in a heap to the sand, spear by his side.

"You should head back," Sokka said, looking his battle buddy over. "A long soak in the sea will do you good."

Pui En let out a howl. Sokka was taken aback by his brash laughter.

"Salt in my wounds!" Pui En chuckled. His eyes crinkled at the corners. "What about you though?"

Sokka pursed his lips, shoulders stiff as he clenched his fingers around the ji polearm. "I'll be ok," he muttered without conviction.

Pui En sighed. "Ah but you see," he said, emphatically gripping Sokka's ankle. Sokka stared at him. Pui En's smile warmed. "I'd like to see with my own eyes."

Confusion swirled within Sokka, and he showed it on his face.

Pui En snorted. "That you are well," he said. "I'd like to see it."

"But," Sokka twisted his lip, not liking this one bit. He frowned more deeply, sending an intense stare at his battle buddy. "But you _can't_ even _walk!"_

That stupid smile was on Pui En's mouth again. The guy shrugged. "I'll deal."

He got up, using his spear as a walking stick. Sokka stared at him, shook his head. They kept on trudging through the sand, deeper into battle, closer to where the heavy fighting was going on.

"For the record I disagree with this," Sokka said loudly. "You should head back. You're not battle ready."

Pui En just laughed. "Can't tell me what to do." He winked. "I'm older."

Sokka rolled his eyes. "Dumbass."

His battle buddy took it with an amused smile, as he kept lumbering on. They were attacked from all sides before the Fire Navy silhouettes registered in Sokka's peripheral vision. Three soldiers: two men with a double edged jian sword, one man with a sai dagger in each hand.

Sokka struck out with his looted ji polearm. The wild swing of his weapon kept dagger-man at bay. But the two swordsmen converged on him, attacking in perfect sync. Like they were trained to do this. Sokka dodged, blocking their jian swords with his polearm the way he'd seen Pui En do with his spear.

With a grunt Pui En put his weight on his legs. He observed the fighters, watched Sokka block and dodge, weave between the Fire Navy soldiers. Then, with a well timed toss, Pui En threw his one and only spear at a swordsman.

The Water Tribe spear pierced the Fire Navy man through the ribs, hitting him in a vulnerable spot, the tiny gap between two plates of his armor. The man cried out in agony. Sokka blinked in amazement as the soldier crumpled to his knees.

"Wow!" Sokka yelled in South Pole speak, "you're great at this Pui En! I didn't even know technique like _that_ existed."

It got a lot easier to dodge now there was only one sword slashing at him. Sokka blocked with the polearm and attacked with his knobkerrie: a splendid block and attack combo.

"Well, ..." Pui En drawled sheepishly. "I _did_ win best Blue Scallop Thrower five times in row before we left the South Pole."

Sokka whistled, battering the swordsman's side with his cudgel. "You'll have to teach me sometime."

"Haha, yeah." Pui En's laugh was shaky and unsteady. He sounded like he was trying to conceal his injuries, downplay their toll on him.

Sokka bit his lip and lashed out bitterly with his knobkerrie. They had to get out of here fast. He had to get Pui En back to shore, to the sea, find a safe place for his buddy to rest and clean his battle wounds. _Then_ he had to come back here, alone, and help Dad and the other Tribesmen. Pui En was in no condition to fight. This could only end badly if he stayed.

A dagger flashed in Sokka's periphery. He sank to the ground and dodged it. But this was cutting it close. Wind fanned his face as the sai dagger passed over his head. Too close. Sokka gulped. He blocked the jian sword with his polearm, and avoided another jab of the dagger. A staying sweat broke out on Sokka's forehead. He was keeping them at bay for now, but for how long?

It seemed like these soldiers _never tired._ Or they were _that_ well trained. They _had to be,_ to survive this long on the battlefield.

Sokka bit down a sob when the sai daggers slashed him in the lower arm. He winced. It hurt. It hurt, it hurt, it hurt, it hurt, _it hurt._ He kept going, despite the stinging pain in his left arm, despite the tears that made the world around him go foggy.

He got slashed in the leg. His right leg hurt like a motherfucker. Sokka struck out wildly with his ji polearm, no longer seeing, no longer caring. Going for maximum damage. He squeezed his eyes shut and lashed out blindly, letting out battle cry after battle cry as his hits landed on something soft enough to be a body, hard enough to be protected by armor.

Blinking his eyes open, Sokka observed the damage he'd caused. Those Fire Navy soldiers barely had a scratch on them. Sokka cursed, loudly and in Calderan. He shook his head, winced at his own lack of prowess, lack of training, his piss-poor fighting skill.

The swordsman raised his jian blade and ran in for an attack, shouting a battle cry. Sokka froze. So this was it, then. And he didn't even get to see his Dad. This was where his story ends.

Sokka closed his eyes bitterly, accepting his fate.

If it had to be, then it had to be. He only regretted not being able to protect his fallen battle buddy from these monsters. But then, so be it. Sokka could not exactly watch over him in death. If legends were true, and Sokka did not believe in legends, then he would be reborn within another vessel the moment his spirit left his body, all memory of his past life wiped clean. If legends were false, then his light would get snuffed out like a candle. His body would turn to mud after being given back to the sea. His spirit would fragment and shatter to a million pieces, drift apart on the wind. Turn to nothing but dust. He would simply cease to exist.

And the war would cease to exist, for him.

So his mind was at ease. He knew that whatever happened, things couldn't get worse.

He was wrong. Sokka's eyes flew open when the sword did not strike him. He held his breath at the sight before him... Pui En had bodily placed himself between the Fire Nazi and Sokka. The tip of the jian sword stuck out of Pui En's back. A shivery gurgle escaped his lips.

Sokka gasped. "No," he whispered, " _no!"_ voice growing loud.

"Get out of here," Pui En mumbled in South Pole speak. "Run, Sokka, _run."_

Sokka shook his head, all the pain in his arm and leg forgotten. " _No!_ No you _can't_ _die_ Pui En. You were supposed to lay low and wait till you can see my sister. She's a healer. She can help you!" he spoke with an urgency he'd never felt before.

He needed to get the words out, soothe himself with comforting lies. This was _not the end,_ this _couldn't be._

But for Pui En, it was. His body sagged, dragging the jian sword down.

Sokka couldn't take his eyes off his fallen friend.

The swordsman drew his double edged sword out of Pui En. He sheathed his sword, then turned away, facing another battle.

"Finish him off," said the swordsman in simple Calderan. "He's just a child; nothing you can't do."

The man with the sai daggers grumbled, but approached with new vigor in his step. Sokka looked up at him. He noticed the swordsman going away, heading off to battle someone else. This chapter closed for him.

Sokka grit his teeth. His fingers clenched around the kierie and the ji polearm he still held.

" _Hey!"_ he called after the retreating swordsman. "Whom did you call _just a child?"_

The swordsman looked over his shoulder, his body posture so casual. "Oh," he said, too detached to sound amused. "This one has spirit. Okay youngster," he said, turning to face Sokka fully. "Show me what you've got. Perhaps our great Nation can make use of you yet. We're always in short supply of strong and stupid nonbender slaves these days."

Something itched within Sokka to _prove him wrong_ and drag that man's face through the dirt. He narrowed his eyes at his enemies, noting their pace, the heaviness of their step.

A split second later he had tossed his boomerang. It went over their heads without landing a hit. Dagger-man laughed. But Sokka did not care. He charged into the man, leading with the polearm. Pointy end directed at the soldier's chest.

He didn't quite catch the angle he was going for: that tiny gap between two plates of armor, the way he'd seen Pui En strike. Sokka missed by about an inch. Ended up only pushing dagger man back by a few feet.

With a low growl Sokka bashed that guy's knees. He raised his kierie again. Struck down, again and again, yelling South Pole speak obscenities. That's when the swordsman came in close. Sokka jumped back, landing in a kneeling crouch, six feet away. He noticed his boomerang flash in the sky.

The Fire Navy men _didn't._ Boomerang swished through the air, getting closer.

It hit dagger man in the back of his head. He fell over, skull mask first into the sand. One man down; one more to go.

Swordsman approached him warily: shoulders hunched like a predator, chest pushed forward, legs bent, sword raised over his head. Dagger man wasn't dead yet, just incapacitated. Sokka had to make this quick, before dagger man recovered.

He made zig-zagging motions with the ji polearm, further confusing the Fire Nazi swordsman. When the man's skull mask turned to the left, to look at the polearm's pointy end, Sokka dropped the polearm. Dropped the polearm and _lunged_ at the soldier from _his other side,_ knobkerrie at the ready.

Sokka got in a good hit while the soldier was distracted. His cudgel battered the man's side: a weak spot in the Fire Navy uniform, where weak chain mail connected two plates of armor.

The swordsman grunted, but got away. Put some safe distance between himself and Sokka. They stared each other down. Sokka panted, as some of his hair got into his eyes. The skull mask looked back at him menacingly.

"You're something else boy," the swordsman said. "Pity you're not fighting for us. The Fire Nation could use a new recruit like you."

Sokka spat on the sand. "I'm _not interested."_ Who did these Fire Nazis think they were? That they could order him around like this? Right after _killing his friend,_ in front of his very eyes. _They would pay._ Sokka would make them bleed and suffer for what they'd done to his men, to his Tribe.

The swordsman hummed. "How old would you be? You don't seem like a legal adult, even by your Tribe's standards."

" _None_ of your _business."_

"Touchy. Look, I'm just offering you a job, kid. You're not that bad with a weapon. And you're decent at acting under pressure. With any luck we can make a good Fire Nation soldier out of you yet."

"You think I'd _go along with you,_ after what you monsters did _to my people?"_

"It's the only way you're getting out of this alive." There was no emotion in the swordsman's voice, no inflection. He sounded like a machine, like there _wasn't_ a man of flesh and blood beneath that skull mask. "Think about it. Do you want to die a martyr?" The man spread his arms, and continued talking calmly.

Sokka felt sick. He hiccupped, the tears came back, stung his eyes. There was too much salt. The world tilted.

"Or would you rather lead a productive life, one where you could help hundreds of people?" the voice above him droned on.

When had Sokka fallen to the ground? He did not know. He only saw the imposing figure of the Fire Navy soldier loom high above him.

"The Fire Nation is not as unforgiving as you think. We respond well to the type of dogged tenacity you have shown here. Unlike the Earth Kingdom, we have upward mobility. You can be born from the lowest of the low, and rise up through the ranks of the Fire Nation through merit alone. I am Captain Nenad. I have the authority to hire new recruits. And I like what I see. Do well in my unit, and you might make it very far indeed."

Not a soldier. This man was a _captain._ He commandeered an entire ship. This factoid made Sokka want to hurt him even more.

"Over my dead body," Sokka growled, sitting up. His kierie lay in the sand, about two feet away. He couldn't reach it. But he had his fists, and he was ready to fight.

Captain Nenad let out a disappointed sigh. "It's sad when Tribes use children to fight their battles. You seem like a reasonable young man with a good head on your shoulders. Tell me boy, just what will your death here accomplish?"

With a battle cry Sokka pounced the Captain, leading with a flurry of fists. Captain Nenad blocked and countered his attack, striking Sokka's left shoulder with the hilt of his sword. Sokka fell back, grasping his shoulder in agony.

He heard footsteps. Captain Nenad walked up close, his boots crunching seashells. Sokka saw the flash of a sword, and then... the crescent blade of a Water Tribe battle axe hacked into Nenad's neck. The man fell into a heap on the sand, closer to death than life. Sokka blinked. He looked up at the attacker. His heart stood still.

"Dad..."

"Sokka!" there was an urgency to Dad's tone. He knelt beside him, searching him with his eyes. "Are you alright? Can you stand?"

It was only then that his own general state of being registered in Sokka's mind. His left arm still bled below the elbow. The wound on his right leg had started clotting. He hissed out in pain when he moved his left shoulder.

"Easy there," Dad helped him up.

Sokka felt lightheaded standing on his own two feet. He vaguely noted five other Tribesmen around them. The Water Tribe warriors made sure Captain Nenad and dagger man would never get up again. A lump formed in Sokka's throat.

"I'm fine," he croaked, "but Pui En... he... he _didn't make it Dad."_

There were tears in his eyes as he got the words out.

"It's going to be okay," said Dad, fixing his battle axe to his belt. "Sokka you've been very brave and I'm proud of you Son."

Sokka shook his head. "I... _Dad,_ ...I shouldn't have come here." His shoulders sagged as he hiccupped his words. "Instead of watching over _you,_ I ended up making you save me."

A sad smile crossed Dad's face. "It's true that I didn't want you to see this," he spread his arms, gesturing at the battleground. "It's... not easy to stomach. The things we're made to do, the things this war has made us do... When you see it the first time," Dad looked sombre. "It breaks men."

" _Dad!"_ Sokka lurched forward and embraced his father in a tight hug.

He felt a calloused hand stroke his hair. The tears sprung unbidden to his eyes.

"Bato," Sokka blurted. "...Bato is... Bato and the others are...." he couldn't get the words out.

"Shhh," said his father's calm and soothing voice, the one he reserved for small children.

"They're... they're safe," Sokka lied as he disentangled himself from his father's arms. He couldn't bring himself to tell his Dad the truth.

Still somehow, it seemed Dad saw right through the lie. A haunted look passed over his face. Like he understood. Like he knew Bato was gone.

Sokka bit his lip. "Toph and the others are off to Ba Sing Se."

Dad nodded, though his eyes told Sokka that he did not believe him.

"Chief Hakoda!" one of the Tribesmen interrupted their reunion.

Turning toward his fellow warrior, Dad asked: "What is it?"

"Some of our men are facing a highly trained squad. They're outnumbered."

Dad's face hardened. "Lead the way. We'll surround them." He bent down to take the cudgel Sokka had dropped. "I believe this belongs to you," he said, handing it back.

"No I..." said Sokka, accepting it. "I found this knobkerrie on the battlefield."

At this, Dad's eyes widened.

"I lost mine in the Si Wong Desert. Left it on Appa's saddle, back when they... when the sandbenders stole the Avatar's sky bison," Sokka admitted with a sigh. He still felt some guilt over that. The only weapons he had left were his boomerang and his machete. He supposed his jaw blade also counted, ...but that wasn't really a weapon. Metal and wood were so hard to come by on the South Pole. These weapons weren't cheap, nor easy to make.

"In that case I admire your ability to adapt."

Sokka blinked up at Dad. "...Huh?"

"Life is messy and there's many circumstances which cannot be foreseen. Even the best laid plans need adjusting. You couldn't have known thieves would steal the Avatar's bison. And yet you made do with the weapons and armor that you had, acquiring new ones on your way here," Dad gestured at Sokka's Fire Navy helmet.

"Dad, ...I.." he had no words to voice his gratitude. A big smile broke out on Sokka's face. "Thank you Dad. This means a lot. It means a lot to hear you say that."

A fond smirk slipped onto his father's features. "Right, now let's get going. I'll fill you in on the plan as we walk."

The plan was simple enough. The seven of them would sneak up on the squad of firebenders. They would hide behind a ridge of rocks, then ambush when the Fire Nazis least expected them. Dad would give the signal to attack.

Sokka held his breath, keeping his head low as he observed the fight through a peephole in the rock. Three Tribesmen were fending off five firebenders. Sokka nearly yelped in anguish when one firebender burned a Tribesman's shin pad off. He looked over at Dad, crouching in the rocks beside him.

But his father shook his head. Not yet.

Sokka sighed, casting his eyes at the fight again.

One Tribesman disarmed a firebender, tossing his jian sword off to the side.

" _Now,"_ Dad hissed in South Pole speak.

Sokka flung his boomerang up in the sky, as he and the others jumped out of their hiding spots.

The disarmed firebender was easily taken down by two of their Tribesmen, who pinned his arms to the ground. The rest of the squad proved more tricky. Dad swung his battle axe, missing one firebender's shoulder by about an inch. Sokka lunged in to batter that firebender's knee with his cudgel, but had to step back when a wave of flame practically hit him in the face.

He grinned when his boomerang made a comeback. These Fire Navy scum rarely saw it coming. It was the perfect sneak attack from the Water Tribe.

But this time... his boomerang was spotted in mid-air. Sokka's jaw dropped as one of the four soldiers _blasted_ his boomerang _with fire._

His boomerang lost its forward motion and dropped straight down, like the heavy chunk of metal it was. Sokka forcibly shut his mouth and frowned. What _else_ could he do? _What_ were their _weak spots?_

A sinking suspicion made him think they _had no weak spots._ These firebenders were simply too well trained... Too well trained to be bested by a nonbender.

This feeling turned into grim reality when one of their Tribesmen got hit by a blast of fire, and fell to the ground, not moving.

Dad's face was drawn in rage. He wielded his battle axe, circling the firebenders with a vicious swing. With a clean cut, his axe sliced one firebender's hand off.

That was when the three remaining firebenders rounded on him. One of them had a straight jian sword, a double edged blade. This firebender directed his bending with his sword. He attacked with a flaming sword.

Sokka leapt forward, striking one soldier in his shin. The other Tribesmen attacked with their spears and kieries. Everyone screamed murderous battle cries. His heart was in his throat, smoke in his lungs as his cudgel collided with that soldier's shin. In the commotion, Sokka almost missed it. But from the corner of his eye he _saw._

" _Dad!"_

That firebender, the one with the flaming sword, had chopped off Dad's right leg.

Dad staggered, hissing as he plummeted to his left knee.

Sokka dropped his weapon. "... _Dad!"_

The other Tribesmen converged on the firebenders like rabid wolves, ripping them to pieces. But Sokka had lost all the will to fight. Carefully he knelt by his father and held his head in his hands. There was so much blood...

" _Dad,"_ he sobbed.

His father smiled up at him. "Don't worry Sokka, it will be alright," he croaked, closing his eyes.

Sokka shook his head, tear drops falling on Dad's cheeks. " _No,_ Dad, stay with me. Don't fall asleep now."

He couldn't, he shouldn't let him fall asleep. Sokka had read in one scroll of that wretched library, that when injured men were laid to rest, they often did not wake up. He would _not_ let _that_ happen. Not to his Dad, no way.

His father's breathing turned labored. He was losing so much blood...

Hastily Sokka placed his hand against the wound to stop the bleeding. But all _that did_ was cover his own hand in his father's blood.

"Dad, no. _...Please,"_

"Sokka," Dad opened his eyes. He smiled, stared up at him so peacefully...

" _Dad!"_

"You've done well Sokka. You will be a great Warrior one day."

"Dad _no,_ this _can't_ be the end. You've got to keep it together. For Bato. He's counting on you."

A sad look crossed his father's face. "I can tell when you lie to me Sokka."

"I, ...uh"

A chuckle, broken by rasping coughs. "Will you let Katara know that I love her? I would have loved to meet her, to see the person she grew into. Looking at you, I can tell she's wonderful."

Sokka hardened his face. "You can tell her yourself. This is _not_ the end Dad, we _will_ get you through this."

"Heh," a wheeze escaped Dad. "I admire your optimism."

* * *

Crackling white energy lit up the world as it came charging straight for Zuko. He held his breath and watched the lightning leave Azula's fingertips. It was unreal. He felt strangely detached, like he wasn't truly there. Like he saw it happen to someone else. All the fear and all the fight had left his body, replaced by an odd sense of calm. Peace. A tranquility that did not seem right for him, that did not feel like Zuko.

He shook himself. The words rang through him like a mantra.

" _Never give up without a fight."_

.......and,

" _Never forget who you are."_ That did it. His Mother's words combined with the words inscribed on the dagger Uncle had gifted him. The pearl dagger that had belonged to a General of the Earth Kingdom Army. The dagger his Uncle had stolen from the city of Ba Sing Se. Zuko winced. His whole family was embroiled in this pointless bloodshed, had caused it... even Uncle.

Zuko didn't know what to do. He could not in good conscience support _either side_ of this war. He knew his Nation was wrong. What they were doing was heinous, and his country's crimes were many... Still at the same time, what he'd seen of the Earth Kingdom was not exactly a shining beacon of morality. This land was full of bullies and weasel snakes. The Dai Li had even gone and betrayed _their own people._

This was not a side Zuko could join. If the Avatar agreed to fight alongside the corrupt and dishonorable Earth Kingdom, then Zuko would not be his teacher. He simply refused to get involved with these people, who would let a family starve if it meant supporting their military men. Who would sell out their own people for Azula's dubious promise of technological advancement and economic prosperity. Only one thing was clear to him: he had to stop Azula from taking over the city. He needed to atone for the sins of his family.

No matter what, he could _not_ let Ba Sing Se be taken. His family had already taken more than enough from these people. It was time to give back.

Brows furrowed, he adjusted his stance till he had firmer footing on the roof beam. Zuko narrowed his eyes. If his sister thought he was _weak,_ she was dead wrong. Zuko extended his right arm; hand open, palm up. He caught the lightning on his fingertips. Squeezed his eyes to slits, _focus._ His inner world was the most important part to performing this move. He focused all his thoughts on guiding this new energy he felt coursing through him.

" _Create a pathway from your fingertips up your arm and to your shoulder. If you let the energy within your body flow, the lightning will follow."_

It's what Uncle had said. The most vital part of this technique, however, was to redirect the stream of energy down to his stomach: his third chakra, the Fire chakra. Zuko rotated his wrist as his right arm moved steadily down. Left hand supporting his right elbow.

This was not, in fact, the technique his Uncle had taught him in its purest form. This was an adaptation. Zuko had slightly modified Uncle's technique so it better fit his own body. This was more... _him._ A more streamlined, faster paced version of the long traditional forms his Uncle had developed by studying waterbenders. And this was the first time Zuko's mastery of the technique was put to the test. For his Uncle had simply refused to bend lightning at him. So he had no practical experience performing this technique, only theoretic knowledge and muscle memory from weeks of dedicated practice.

He hoped it was enough.

As soon as his left hand reached his stomach, he bent his right arm at the elbow. With the elbow facing Azula. He set his teeth. Wondered if she had a good comeback to _this._ Then he snapped his right arm out, palm up, letting his chi flow up and _out._

Lightning jetted out of his fingers, crackling in the dark and blinding white. The expression on his sister's face was one of stilled _shock._ Zuko smirked.

"What?" he threw at her. "Thought I spent these last two months idle?" his grin widened. "Then you don't know me too well, Sis."

The lightning reached her before she could dodge. She had already started leaping out of the way, but was a little too late. Lightning hit her in her side, and the fancy green dress she was wearing really did nothing to shield her from that. She crumpled, toppling over and grasping at her sides. A groan of pain escaped her lips.

Zuko frowned in concern; his smile fell, washed off in an instant, replaced by a flat line.

No, it... it _couldn't be._ His sister was too good for this. Surely she had another counter attack. She was a firebending prodigy, she would make it. Zuko reassured himself. She was only playing pretend, faking it so he would lower his guard, and... and...

Azula lost her balance on the roof beam.

Zuko's eyes went wide. He dashed forward just as his sister began tumbling down, rolling over the roof tiles. Zuko screamed.

" _Azula!"_

No.

No no no no no no no no no.

He caught up to her just as she was about to topple over the final ledge. Down on one knee, her limp back resting over his thigh. Her face stared up at him, eyes wide open.

Zuko gulped. "Hey," he said softly. "Azula?"

No response.

He bit his lip. "I'm sorry I didn't mean to... I.... I never tried out this move, and I.... uhh..."

The excuses tasted lame on his tongue. So he just stopped talking. He shook her shoulders, hoping to animate her cold face back into some sort of expression.

Nothing happened. Dead eyes stared back at him, showing no emotion. The unwanted realization seeped in that he had... he had..... _No,_ he simply _couldn't have._ Azula did not go down that easy.

But here she was, laying unmoving in his arms. Tears sprang to his eyes before he could stop them. They dropped down onto her green dress, ...the latest fashion for Earth Kingdom girls.

_No!_

Zuko shook his head, clawed at his heart that suddenly felt pangs of pain shoot through. _What had he done?_ Why? And why had the Spirits not _stopped him?_ Where was Goddess Orko when you needed her? Was this.... this _travesty_ his destiny? Had he always been meant to do _this?_

It simply couldn't be. Zuko felt wave after wave of newfound _shame_ wash over him. He had hurt his sister. He had committed high treason. And he only had himself to blame.

Uncle warned him to stay out of this fight. He should have gone with Uncle then and there. He should have left when Uncle told him to run. _Why_ had he stayed? Why had he challenged his own sister to a duel to the death? If anything, she was the innocent party in this. She had tried to de-escalate their fight. And he had thrown her offers of a truce back in her face.

Zuko turned his head up to the dark sky and howled out a cry of agony.

 _Who_ was he? What sort of _monster_... would aim to kill his own sister? What did Katara even see in him? Why had she offered him her friendship? When he was this pathetic piece of garbage, not even worthy enough of calling himself a human being.

He understood, now.

He understood why his Father had banished him. But it was a little too late. Azula was gone, the last possible heir to the throne reduced to a corpse. In one fell swoop, their Father had lost _both_ his children.

Moving sluggishly Zuko reached for the pearl dagger hidden in the fold of his belt. He read its inscription once more, the wrong side, the one that village kid Lee had first spotted.

"Made in Earth Kingdom."

It was a fitting end that it should return to the Earth Kingdom, then. Zuko thought idly as he contemplated where he should cut into his belly. Below the belly button or above... He tried to remember the ancient texts he had read in the Caldera city library all those many years ago. The only thing he could recall quite clearly is that he ought to draw the blade from left to right when slicing his own belly open. He forgot the rest.

With closed eyes he said one last prayer to Pel, Rho and Orko. Then, opening his eyes he reached out gently and drew Azula's eyelids down as a curtain over her eyes.

"I'm sorry," he whispered, laying her body out to rest on the roof tiles.

As could be expected, she said nothing in return. She was no longer here. And that was okay. She would not have to witness what a disgrace her brother was, not have to see what he was about to do.

Zuko blinked the tears away, and crouched down beside her. He opened his gi further, revealing his flat toned belly. Under the light of the moon he brought his dagger close and softly set the blade against his skin.

He did not feel pain. Not yet, that is. And still the tears rolled over his face in rivers. In sadness over everything he failed, all the things he could have done, could have been, could have become. All the places he could have gone, the places this life could have taken him. He bit his lip. _Man up._ This was not the time to feel sorry for himself. He had to, he had to do this. This was the only way he could redeem himself. The last option left for him to restore his Honor. Then, maybe in a next life...

" _Zuko!"_

He blinked. The knife felt weak in his hand. A woman's voice kept calling his name, and for a moment he thought he was delusional, and hearing his own Mother's voice call for him, until he felt strong arms encircle him, and one hand claw a tight grip around his wrist: the hand that held the dagger. His fingers went slack and the dagger clattered to the ground. Well, so much for that...

He looked to his left and he saw Katara, crying on his shoulder. He stared at her in confusion.

...Why was she crying? Why was she giving him her warmth? Zuko was a monster. He had murdered his own sister in cold blood. He did not deserve this. So why... Why was she there for him?

"I'm so glad," she looked up at him with teary eyes. Both crying and smiling at the same time. "I'm so glad I got to you in time."

He frowned at her. "Katara, I..." Suddenly the Hara Kiri route felt like the coward's way out. An out from the consequences of his actions. He felt compelled to know about her. "What happened?" he said, twisting his lip. "Are you alright?"

A bitter smile was on her face. "General Goran and General Dawood came to the rescue. They're fighting the Dai Li together with your Uncle. General Kwak left to secure the Outer Wall. There were reports of some Dai Li trying to tear it down. The rest of the Council is still missing. We think the Dai Li might have abducted them, along with the Earth King, he's _nowhere_ to be found."

Zuko smiled faintly. "I am glad to see you Katara," he admitted, softly.

Her eyes narrowed in concern. She looked him over once more, this time critically. "Zuko, what were you... about to do?"

He sighed, looking down at the roof tiles. "I never meant for this to happen. Believe me, I did not know that technique to redirect lightning could be so... deadly. I had never practiced it before, and I..." he didn't know how to end his sentence.

Katara looked over at Princess Azula's body. She winced. Zuko shuddered away from her. But she held on to him, not letting him escape.

"Zuko," she spoke strictly. " _Zuko!_ Look at me."

He did. She seemed neither angry nor repulsed, but a strong sense of urgency was palpable in her countenance.

"Zuko this was an accident."

He shook his head. "Doesn't matter. That is not how Fire Nation law works. The courts won't see it that way. I committed high treason tonight, and Hara Kiri is the only means I have left to restore my Honor."

Her expression turned incredulous. "Zuko you're not _in the Fire Nation."_

"But I'm from the Fire Nation. You said it yourself. I can't just serve tea to people in Ba Sing Se, not after everything my Nation has put these people through. I have to do this, please understand. I'm only sorry that I didn't stop to say goodbye to you. _Or_ help you in the fight against the Dai Li. I'm sorry that I just ran off like that. That was low of me. I don't know what I was thinking... But, now that you're here, ...thank you Katara. Thank you for everything you've done for me. You didn't have to, and yet you lent me a helping hand. You tried to help me even though I'm nothing but scum. You are so kind, and forgiving, and I'm glad to have known you, even for a small part of my dreadfully short and miserable life."

She slapped him. Hard, across the good side of his face.

Zuko blinked back tears then stared at her in shock. Now Katara looked _really angry._ He wondered what he had said to set her off.

" _Snap out of it!"_ she yelled at him, the lines around her nose contorting as she got into his face, practically spitting the words at him. "You don't get to _do this_ to me. I'm _not_ letting you _kill yourself_ Zuko."

He frowned. "That's not. This is not. Not what it's like. Katara you don't understand. I was not going to kill myself. Hara Kiri is a ritual. It's part of Fire Nation culture. You don't understand."

He had to get through to her. He was not suicidal. He didn't wish to die. But now that he had taken his sister's life, he had to own up to it. He wouldn't be much of a man, otherwise.

"Well then your culture is _ass backwards."_

Zuko blinked.

With a rage filled pout on her lips, Katara kept on talking. "There's plenty of things that are wrong with Water Tribe culture, things that _I_ disagree with. But at least we don't make our young men _kill themselves_ when they fail to live up to impossibly high standards."

"That's not what. It's not _'killing myself',_ you don't understand. Hara Kiri is a serious ritual, it's part of what it means to have Honor. And a man never goes back on his word, and I... I _can't_ teach the Avatar firebending, even though I promised you I would."

"I _don't care!"_

Zuko stilled, frozen to silence by Katara's emotional outburst.

"I don't give an elephant rat's ass if _you_ teach Aang firebending or not. I just don't want you to die." Tears slipped to her cheeks. "Not like this. Zuko you have shown me you _can_ be a good person. _I_ believe in you. Who cares about your stupid Fire Nation laws? It's the Fire Nation that _is_ the problem, _not_ you."

"But,"

"I'm _not_ done yet."

"Okay..."

"You defended the Earth Kingdom against the threat of invasion. You stopped Princess Azula. Do you know what that means?"

Zuko shook his head warily.

"You are a hero," she told him earnestly. "You saved millions of people. You helped us save the city Zuko. You deserve _praise,_ not punishment. I don't. I'm sorry _I_ doubted you. Doubted your loyalty, doubted your reasons. In spite of everything, you _chose_ good in the end. And _that_ is what matters."

"You really think so?"

"Why would I say any of these things if I didn't think them true?" she scowled.

"Sorry, I... I don't mean to accuse you of lying. Just..."

Katara ran her fingers through his hair. Zuko stopped talking and frowned at her.

"When I... when I pictured the face of the enemy, I used to picture your face," she said.

"My face."

"Yes," she sounded rueful. "But that was before I knew... Before I knew what had happened to you." Her fingers paused at the edge of his scar, pushing his hair back to examine it more closely.

Zuko winced. Azula had told her, hadn't she? Had told Katara all about the shameful way he had gotten his scar: by giving up without even trying. He had disgraced both his Father and his country by making a mockery out of the Agni Kai. Groveling at his Father's feet like some pathetic wimp. Maybe, ...maybe if he had put up a fight... He sure had stood no chance of winning against the Fire Lord, but then... perhaps his reputation would not have been so heavily scarred, his Honor not completely disgraced. He would have simply looked like some foolish rebellious kid, not as a man who was without Honor.

Katara dug inside her robes, pulling another pendant from her neck. "This is water from the Spirit Oasis at the North Pole. It has special properties, so I have been saving it for something important." Her other hand cupped the side of his face, the scarred side. "I don't know if it would work, but... I want to try."

He looked at her puzzled. "Try what?"

"Healing your scar."

He gasped. "Katara, I... This is such an Honor. I don't know how to repay you for this, ..."

She smiled at him like he was being silly. The way his Mother would sometimes smile at him when he said something idiotic. Zuko frowned. He felt so lost. He did not deserve this... At the same time, it would be a big dishonor to reject her offer.

"You already have," she told him.

He started to get up from his uncomfortable crouching position, when a sudden jab of pain made him pause. Zuko winced, gritting his teeth to fight the sharp pulsing pain he felt in every fiber of his being.

Katara smiled sheepishly. "Though maybe I should first heal the rest of you. Sit still."

A fond smile was on her lips as she moved glowing water over his arms. Zuko let his back rest against the roof tiles. He stared up at the sky. The first signs of a new day were starting to glow on the horizon.

"Katara," he said.

"Yeah?"

"Thank you. Thank you for everything. You don't even know how special you are."

"Well, ...I.... uhhhh... hold still Zuko, I need to focus. This is a pretty deep wound."

He held his tongue and watched the sun rise.


End file.
